US adds 1,03,000 jobs in Dec; Unemployment rate slips to 9.4 pc

Updated on: Saturday, January 08, 2011

The US economy generated 1,03,000 new jobs in December, lower than expected, while unemployment rate declined to 9.4 per cent during the same period.
Even though the overall jobless rate came down to the lowest since May 2009, the latest data is yet another sign that American labour market continues to remain fragile.

"The unemployment rate fell by 0.4 percentage point to 9.4 per cent in December and non-farm payroll employment increased by 1,03,000," the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said today.

Analysts were expecting an addition of at least 1,50,000 or more jobs in December.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate has come down from a high of 9.8 per cent in November, which is widely believed to be partly due to falling number of workers.

In December, employment rose mainly in leisure and hospitality and health care sectors.

"The number of unemployed persons decreased by 5,56,000 to 14.5 million in December, and the unemployment rate dropped to 9.4 per cent," BLS said in a statement.

According to the latest data, December jobless rates for adult men and women stood at 9.4 per cent and 8.1 per cent), respectively.

Creation of more jobs is seen as the key to a healthy US economy, which continues to grapple with sluggish recovery trends mainly on account of unemployment problems.

US adds 1,03,000 jobs in Dec; Unemployment rate slips to 9.4 pc

More Education news