The Bureau of Labor Statisitcs reported that "Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 157,000 in December, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.4 percent ... Job growth continued in several service-providing industries."
"In December, the unemployment rates for the major worker groups--adult men (4.9 percent), adult women (4.7 percent), teenagers (17.6 percent), whites (4.6 percent), blacks (10.8 percent), and Hispanics or Latinos (6.6 percent)--showed little or no change over the month. The unemployment rate for Asians was 4.1 percent in December, not seasonally adjusted. (See tables A-1, A-2,
and A-3.)
The number of long-term unemployed--those unemployed 27 weeks and over--was about unchanged over the month. This group accounted for 20.2 percent of the total unemployed."
The street consensus estimate was for an increase of 175,000.
The main gains for employment came from professional services and health services which added 41,000 and 47,000, respectively.
For all of your right--wing friends who argue the Household date is more accurate, that number dropped by -110,000 last month.
Over the year, the number of persons who held more than one job increased by 574,000 to 7.8 million, not seasonally adjusted. These multiple jobholders represented 5.6 percent of total employment in December.
This is another disappointing employment number. The economy needs to create 150,000/month to keep up with standard attrition. This months number was a mere 7000 over that number.