Employers added 223,000 jobs in December on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Labor Department reported on Friday. That growth represents a limited drop from November, following slight dips in every month since September 2020.

“The gradual cooling indicates that the economy may be coming back into balance after years of pandemic-era disruptions—so far with limited pain for workers,” according to an article in The New York Times. “The unemployment rate ticked down to 3.5 percent, back to its level from early 2020, which matched a low last seen in 1969.”

2022 saw the creation of 4.5 million jobs.

“If the U.S. economy is slipping into recession, nobody told the labor market,” said Chris Varvares, co-head of U.S. economics for S&P Global Market Intelligence.