Unemployment rate stays at 7.8%. 155,000 jobs added in December. November's job gain revised slightly upward.
Employers added workers in December at about the same pace as the prior month, and the unemployment rate matched a four-year low, showing sustained gains in the U.S. labor market even as lawmakers were struggling to reach a budget deal.
Payrolls rose by 155,000 workers last month following a revised 161,000 advance in November that was more than initially estimated,
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Revisions to prior reports added a total of 14,000 jobs to payrolls in the previous two months.
The economy created 1.84 million jobs for a second straight year.
Annual revisions to the household survey showed the unemployment rate averaged 8.1 percent in 2012, the lowest in four years.
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This while the public sector continues to shed jobs. Manufacturing showed a stronger than expected uptick.
Average hourly earnings climbed 2.1 percent from December 2011, to $23.73, the biggest gain in a year, today’s report showed. The average work week for all workers climbed to six minutes to 34.5 hours.
Private payrolls, which exclude government agencies, rose 168,000 in December after a revised gain of 171,000. They were projected to rise by 155,000, the survey showed.
Factory payrolls increased by 25,000, the most since March and compared with the Bloomberg survey forecast of a 4,000 increase.
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Government payrolls decreased by 13,000 in December, the third straight month of declines.