U.S. Economy Added 103,000 Jobs in December

The U.S. economy added 103,000 jobs in December. That figure is below the 150,000 expected, yet the jobless rate fell from 9.8% to 9.4%, the lowest level since May 2009.


While businesses were hiring, adding 113,000 jobs to payrolls in the month, the government continued to shed staff, cutting 10,000 workers from payrolls.

But the two previous months were better than originally thought. November was revised up to 71,000, while October was revised to 210,000, adding a combined 70,000 jobs to the 2010 total.

While the latest data brings hope for 2011, economists still caution that job gains will be gradual at best. There’s still a long way to go to recover the 8.5 million jobs lost since the Great Recession began.

The labor market typically needs at least 300,000 to make a difference in the unemployment rate, economists say. Anything less than that is just barely enough to keep pace with population growth.