Nonfarm payrolls rose by 228,000 in November while the unemployment rate held steady at 4.1 percent as the U.S. economy continues to hum along, the Labor Department reported Friday.

Economists surveyed by Reuters had expected nonfarm payrolls to grow by 200,000.

A more encompassing measure of joblessness that includes discouraged workers and those holding part-time positions for economic reasons moved up one-tenth of a point to 8 percent. The ranks of those not in the labor force edged higher by 35,000 to 95.4 million.

Closely watched wage data fell short of expectations. Average hourly earnings rose 0.2 percent for the month and 2.5 percent for the year, versus projected increases of 0.3 percent for the month and 2.7 percent for the year.

"The November employment data is largely as expected. For an expansion that began in mid-2009, no negative surprises are welcome," said Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate.com. "The lingering impacts of recent hurricanes and flooding have reverted back to relative calm in the statistics, meaning that this is a 'cleaner' number."