Job growth has reached its highest level in 15 years after a boost in December, with unemployment reaching a six-year low at 5.6 percent, supporting the notion that the United States’ economy is getting better even as the global economy struggles.

The U.S. Labor Department announced that 252,000 jobs had been added last month, and also added another 50,000 to the October and November government estimates, according to the Associated Press. Unemployment, meanwhile, dipped from 5.8 percent to 5.6 percent. It hasn’t been that low since 2008, before the economic crash.

Wage growth, on the other hand, has remained somewhat weak, with average hourly pay dropping 5 cents in December.

Also, the unemployment rate dropping may have had more to do than jobless people simply giving up on looking for work and thus no longer being counted as unemployed. The number of unemployed people fell by 383,000 last month to a total of 8.7 million, although just one-third of those people actually found a job. The remaining simply stopped looking.

Still, about three million more people are on payrolls than when 2014 began, which represents the best job gain over the course of a year since 1999, when the tech bubble was beginning to expand.

Plunging gas prices will further put more money into the pockets of consumers, which could further boost the economy and lead to even more hiring in the coming months.

December’s hiring wasn’t as strong as November’s, when 353,000 people were hired. Still, the average for the final three months was 289,000, which is a big jump from the 239,000 average for the third quarter of 2014.

With the new results, the Federal Reserve considers the unemployment to be near, if not at, the “healthy” range, which is 5.2 to 5.5 percent.

Inflation is a concern, however. It remains below the Fed’s target of 2 percent as oil prices remain low and with pay growth remaining week. However, economists expect the economy to grow 3 percent in 2015, which would be the first time in a decade that growth has hit that level in a year’s time.

Another solid indicator for the economy is that its hiring was widespread across industries rather than focused on just one sector.

The economy remains weak overseas in places like Europe, and even strong economies like China are beginning to slow down, but American businesses appear unaffected by that situation, continuing to hire at a good rate. It has caused the U.S. economy to stand out in comparison to the rest of the world.