New York (CNN Business) The US economy added 145,000 jobs in December, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday.

Although the headline number slightly missed economists' expectations, the unemployment rate remained steady at 3.5%, a historic low. Over the past three months, an average of 184,000 new positions were added per month.

General Motors GM December's jobs total was nearly 100,000 jobs fewer than in November , when workers returning from thestrike boosted numbers. Hiring remained strong: As long as 100,000 jobs or more are added each month, the economy can keep up with new workers joining the labor force, Nela Richardson, investment strategist at Edward Jones, told CNN Business.

All in all, US employment rose by 2.1 million jobs in 2019, below the prior year's 2.7 million gain.

"In our view, the labor markets stays healthy in 2020, but job growth will level off," Richardson added.

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