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Purveyor

(29,876 posts)
Fri Jan 9, 2015, 02:36 PM Jan 2015

2014 Was Best Hiring Year Since '99; Jobless Rate 5.6 Pct.

WASHINGTON — Jan 9, 2015, 1:07 PM ET
By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER AP Economics Writer

The United States capped its best year for hiring in 15 years with a healthy gain in December, and the unemployment rate hit a six-year low. The numbers support expectations that the United States will strengthen further this year even as overseas economies stumble.

Employers added 252,000 jobs last month and 50,000 more in October and November combined than the government had previously estimated, the Labor Department said Friday. The unemployment rate dropped to 5.6 percent from 5.8 percent in November. The rate is now at its lowest point since 2008.

Still, wage growth remains weak. Average hourly pay slipped 5 cents in December. And one reason the unemployment rate fell had nothing to do with more hiring: Many of the jobless gave up looking for work and so were no longer counted as unemployed.

Even so, nearly 3 million more people are earning paychecks than at the start of 2014 ? the best annual job gain since 1999. Gas prices have also plunged, which will give consumers ? the main driver of the U.S. economy ? a further boost in coming months.

Though December's hiring didn't match November's huge 353,000 gain, monthly job growth in the final three months of 2014 averaged 289,000. That was up sharply from the 239,000 average for the third quarter of 2014.

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http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/unemployment-rate-falls-56-pct-us-gains-252000-28108614

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