evidence: Slowly but surely, Americans have grown more optimistic about the economy. [...] The United States added 216,000 jobs in December, well surpassing economists’ expectations for a net gain of 160,000 jobs and capping off another banner year of employment growth. US employers added 2.7 million jobs last year. While that’s well below the totals of the record-setting 2022 (7.3 million) and 2021 (4.8 million), it’s still the 25th highest on record going back to 1939, Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows. [...] The December jobs report "brings to a close an extraordinary year in job creation which saw an increase of 2.7 million in total employment and a record 167,451 million Americans employed," Joe Brusuelas, RSM US principal and chief economist, wrote in a note on Friday.