WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers added a robust 228,000 jobs in November, a sign of the job market's enduring strength in its ninth year of economic recovery.

The Labor Department says the unemployment rate remained at a 17-year low of 4.1 percent.

The economy is expanding at a healthy pace, and in many cases employers are scrambling to hire enough qualified workers. Over the past six months, growth has exceeded an annual rate of 3 percent, the first time that's happened since 2014. Consumer confidence has reached its highest level since 2000.

Healthy hiring and a low unemployment rate have yet to push up wages, which rose 2.5 percent in November compared with a year earlier. The last time unemployment was this low, wages were rising at a 4 percent rate.

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