Department of Labor data released Friday showed substantial gains in the American labor market, with the nation's unemployment level dropping to 4.6%.
Continued improvement in hiring follows the year-long trend of 2016, and comes amid a new record-high established in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) in November.
With continued increases in the number of hires, expect more job seekers to emerge as the calendar turns to 2017. That's the forecast from the DoL, which reported that the total number of people "marginally attached" to the labor force is 1.9 million.
That designation refers to those who want to and can work, and are actively seeking employment but not yet holding a job. That's up from just 215,000 a year ago.
The substantial increase in new job seekers suggests greater competition in the coming year. It's more important now than ever to get a leg up in the market.
Getting started during the holidays is a great way to get in front of the competition when looking for a new job to start a new year.