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NAFCU Chief Economist and Director of Research Curt Long said November's payroll increase of 178,000 jobs was positive despite labor force participation and wage growth being on the decline.

"November was a bit of a mixed bag as far as jobs were concerned," said Long. "While the headline figure for job growth is a positive, both labor force participation and wage growth declined."

"Still, the report provided no impediments for a rate hike from the Fed later this month, and a quarter-point increase is now a certainty," he added. Long was cited in The Wall Street Journal, The Hill, HousingWire, TheMReport, Credit Union Journaland Patch.

The Federal Open Market Committee's next two-day meeting is set for Dec. 13-14.

The unemployment rate dropped to 4.6 percent in November as the labor force lost 226,000 workers.

Jobs numbers for September were revised upward to 208,000, while October job numbers were revised down to 142,000.

Average hourly earnings decreased 3 cents to $25.89 in November. Over the last 12 months, wages are up 2.5 percent. Since 2009, year-over-year wage growth has averaged just 2.2 percent.