At his year-end press conference Friday, President Obama said of the current state of the nation, "We are better off."

U.S. payrolls added 321,000 workers in November, and the unemployment rate held at 5.8 percent, the lowest since July 2008, the year of the financial crisis.

While payrolls rose in 27 states, unemployment rates fell in 41 U.S. states in November and were unchanged in six more, reflecting healthy job gains across the country, reported The Associated Press.

The U.S. Labor Department said Americans enrolling for unemployment insurance were 289,000, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week. The total number of Americans claiming unemployment insurance is 2.5 million, with 4.4 million claiming benefits in all programs.

Solid economic growth since the spring has encouraged more employers to step up hiring. The U.S. added nearly 2.7 million jobs this year, the most since 1999. That has lowered unemployment rates in most of the country.

Unemployment rates rose in only three states: Connecticut, Louisiana and Washington.

North Dakota's 2.7 percent unemployment rate was lowest in the nation. Mississippi's 7.3 percent rate was the highest.

The largest amount of jobs added was 90,100 in California, followed by Florida at 41,900. Texas added the third-most jobs with 34,800.

The White House said the economy grew by 4.2 percent in the second and third quarters of 2014, the strongest six-month period in more than a decade. American businesses added new jobs for 57 consecutive months for a total of 10.9 million new jobs.

The White House said America is now the No. 1 oil and gas producer in the world for the first time in nearly two decades.