Jobs data for December will add to ongoing mixed signals in the U.S. labor market.

Analysts surveyed by Dow Jones expect 155,000 jobs added on the month, down from 227,000 in November, with the unemployment rate expected to have remained unchanged at 4.2%.

On their own, those figures suggest a still relatively healthy jobs market. Yet the recent trend has been unfavorable: 155,000 new jobs would be among the fewest added in the pandemic era. And the unemployment rate has been stuck at or…