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| US jobless rate falls to five-year low in December | |
| (34 minutes later) | |
| The US unemployment rate fell to a five-year low of 6.7% in December as firms created 74,000 new jobs, latest figures show. | |
| The number of jobs created was the lowest for three years and was well under half the number expected by analysts. | The number of jobs created was the lowest for three years and was well under half the number expected by analysts. |
| The US had bad weather in December, which may have stalled hiring plans. | The US had bad weather in December, which may have stalled hiring plans. |
| The fall in the rate, the lowest since October 2008, in part reflects people leaving the labour force. | |
| The government counts people as unemployed only if they say are actively searching for work. | |
| Leisure, manufacturing and services added jobs, but construction cut 16,000 jobs, the biggest drop in the industry in 20 months. | |
| In the four months before December, the average hiring rate was 214,000 jobs a month. | |
| Picking up steam | |
| Other figures on employment have suggested a healthy jobs market, and the Labor Department said 38,000 more jobs in November were created than the 203,000 previously reported. | Other figures on employment have suggested a healthy jobs market, and the Labor Department said 38,000 more jobs in November were created than the 203,000 previously reported. |
| Overall, the US economy is picking up steam, with recent figures for consumer spending, trade and factory output all strong. | Overall, the US economy is picking up steam, with recent figures for consumer spending, trade and factory output all strong. |
| This year, economists expect the US to grow by 3%, well up on the 1.7% last year. | |
| The improving picture led the US central bank, the Federal Reserve, to start to taper its massive monetary stimulus programme from $85bn a month to $75bn. | |
| If the Fed remains confident about the direction of the economy, it may trim this back further at its next meeting at the end of this month. | |
| Chris Williamson, the chief economist at Markit, said: "A steep fall in unemployment in December ups the odds of further Fed tapering. | |
| "Although non-farm payroll growth was disappointingly low, one month of weakness doesn't represent a trend and, with other economic indicators showing robust growth toward the end of last year, talk will intensify about when interest rates should start rising if we see a resumption of robust employment growth in January." |