BREAKING

Employers Added 155,000 Jobs in December

Unemployment Rate Holds Steady at 7.8 Percent

Jan 4, 2013 by Lisa Fine

Staff Writer t

Image: AP

The U.S. job market showed steady gains in December with employers adding 155,000 jobs, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.

The unemployment rate remained the same at 7.8 percent as it was in November when rates were initially reported at 7.7 percent but later revised. The unemployment level has been at or near that rate since September.

"It's not a home-run report by any stretch, but it's constructive," said John Ryding, chief economist at RDQ Economics told the New York Times. "It's another month of fairly stable, solid, moderate job creation."

Jobs increased in health care, food and drink services, construction, and manufacturing, the report said.

Via The New York Times and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

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Jan '13

kirbstomp1

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I wanna hear some republican excuses.
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Jan '13

Real4WheelDrv

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I'll take a stab, food and drink services...so I'm guessing 100k or more of those jobs went to buspeople, fast food workers etc. Jobs traditionally held by young people but now are filled by anyone desperate enough for an income...assuming they even get hired and aren't rejected for being overqualified. How many of those construction and manufacturing jobs can and will be filled by those intrepid "undocumented residents"?
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Post @Real4WheelDrv
Jan '13

kirbstomp1

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@Real4WheelDrv -interesting. Glad you brought something to the table that makes some kinda since. When in a restarting economy does it matter who fill those jobs? Also a huge argument now is decreasing population. For the past 70 years population has increases dramatically, now it is slowly dropping and the baby boomers are getting older. If population is decreasing in America at a rapid rate, well it doesn't matter which party is in power. All the baby boomers will be running up the debt with their medicare and SS checks. Unemployment will remain high due to companys shutting down because their isn't enough demand in America as their was in the 90s. I see a bleak future for America.
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Post @kirbstomp1
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Jan '13

Sharpshooter

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EXCUSES are the exclusive property of the Axelshaft/Jarrett Junta, that's what they've done in the previous four years and how they got their puppet re-elected; no point in changing a winning plan, especially when it's all you know.
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Post @Sharpshooter
Jan '13

DerivePI

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Sorry, we can't make the economy work when we continue to pay people not to work and mooch off of the people who are working? Or do you think only 155K added jobs during the Christmas season is a good thing?
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Post @DerivePI
Jan '13

xyz

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@kirbstomp1 - well, THIS baby boomer can't afford to retire. I'll be working at least until I'm 67. That gives me another 7 years to keep paying into the system so that some freeloaders can sit on their butts and collect welfare.
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Jan '13

justapirate

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That's just looking at a little part of a much bigger picture. Yeah, it's darn nice that some folks got some jobs but when you consider how many of are are actually out here languishing it's just not something to brag about.
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Jan '13

Real4WheelDrv

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Right on.
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Post @Real4WheelDrv
Jan '13

martydotcom

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Would you prefer the pre Obama years when we were losing jobs ??
Considering the effects of Sandy, and the CT Shooting. I think the job creation numbers are outstanding. Better to be moving in the right direction isn't it??
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Post @martydotcom
Jan '13

justapirate

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@martydotcom I'm thinking the vast majority of those new jobs are minimal wage and/or temporary. You wanna impress me tell me my job came back to this shore. I'd like the opportunity to have a positive influence on our markets and productivity once more. These numbers can be quickly traded off for what was lost and what doesn't exist any more and the extent to what they can do for what our economy needs I would be more than a little pessimistic of.
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Post @justapirate
Jan '13

martydotcom

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@justapirate They are 58 percent low wage... The bigger issue is that there are more than high wage jobs going unfilled or filled with HIB visas from by Indian, Chinese, etc . because our school are not turning out technically capable individuals. Job training has been deemed too expensive by the Tea Party dominated HR. No funding for Obama offered plans. So here are the high paying jobs you'd like to see.

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2012/10/6...

http://stemwire.org/2012/10/03/supply-demand-...

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/28/business/sm...
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Post @martydotcom
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Jan '13

Sharpshooter

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@martydotcom Moving in the right direction?

Effects of Sandy?

Wouldn't rebuilding the region mean CREATION of JOBS in construction and manufacturing?

Effects of the Connecticut shootings?

People lost their jobs because of that? People stayed home? People suspended their Christmas? Sorry but THAT'S too big a stretch even for Axelshaft and his boy.

The job market is stagnant.... number of jobs added should cause a decrease in unemployment.... that's basic math. If the unemployment percent is remaining the same with new jobs being created, it means other jobs are being lost.

Moving in the right direction? Standing Still is NOT moving at all. You can live on "Hope" for "Change" that we'll eventually move "FORWARD" but that's not going to happen with this regime.
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Post @Sharpshooter
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Jan '13

PoliticalSpice

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things are clearly improving. These are not seasonal christmas jobs, but the feilds indicated in the article, health care, etc. indicate long term jobs are being created.
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Jan '13

kirbstomp1

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Like I said to real4wheeldrive, I see thing improving but with an aging population, and citizens having less children, I see a big problem with baby boomers and their medicare, and SS checks. As long as population is decreasing in America, we will always be in a slight recession. A country cannot efficiently downsize whilst still trying to pay down our debt, get spending under control, and find jobs for businesses that go under due to lower demand. The news should be, baby boomer crisis will plunge America into oblivion. Case closed. Lol
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Post @kirbstomp1
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Jan '13

woodtick57

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@kirbstomp1 Once the population levels off, it won't be 'downsizing' any more...
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Post @woodtick57
Jan '13

Rocker

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My company is looking to expand the R&D program hiring engineers for products or concepts in future scope in order to be more aggressive when markets improve.
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Post @Rocker
Jan '13

Thunderchicken

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@Rocker

We too are poised but the higher ups are reluctant to lay out too much cash right now. Before the election it promised to be capitol improvement mania. Now it's back to wait and see.
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Post @Thunderchicken
Jan '13

Rocker

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@Thunderchicken - Interesting - are both companies located in the south. Mine is.
The first quarter of the year will be the break. Some are waiting to see what that brings. Our FY began last Sept. so things are already budgeted.
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Post @Rocker
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Jan '13

seedtick

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Add to this the fact that the number of first time unemployment filings were up and you have a very stale jobs report. The fact that 155,000 new jobs were added is offset by the fact that so many were laid off because of Obamacare and business outlook....not to mention the loss of confidence in Washington DC. And, why the hell would you want to tout the satus quo? Oh, by the way, I am a Democrat.
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Jan '13

Thunderchicken

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The economy is cyclical. As time goes by there will always be an ebb and flow in it. A smart country will realize this and not try to eliminate the highs and lows. A smart person will find a way to ride the flow and take advantage of the ebb. (Buy low, sell high.) A smarter country would do the same.
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Jan '13

SmedleyButler

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Why is this news? The economy does this every holiday season. And I suspect as usual, it will drop after all the gift returns are done. People will return to figuring how to pay off their credit cards which will reverse the so call trend.
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Jan '13

Clarke12

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I would guess a lot of these are temp holiday jobs, but it would be nice if they were permanent.
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Jan '13

justapirate

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The whole thing is kinda like thinking about the porch you want to add on while your house is burning down. There are pipedreams and then there is reality.
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Jan '13

Bobolinsky

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"Economists are unsure of what the rest of the year holds for the American job market, but most are forecasting more of the same: hiring fast enough to stay just ahead of population growth..."

iow- The new normal.
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Jan '13

Bobolinsky

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"Friday's report did point to some weakness in the job market. For example, the number of unemployed actually rose 164,000 to 12.2 million. Approximately 192,000 people entered the work force last month, but most of them didn't find jobs."

"The unemployment figures come from a survey of households; the number of jobs that were added each month comes from a separate survey of businesses."

"A broader gauge that counts the unemployed, plus part-time workers who want full-time work and people who have given up looking for a job, was unchanged at 22.7 million."
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/us-economy-adds...

iow- The new normal.
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Post @Bobolinsky
Jan '13

Bobolinsky

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The layoffs at Lincolnton Furniture Company to be counted for December. I wonder how many other companies closed their doors for good at the end of the year

"Lincolnton Furniture Company closed abruptly Thursday just one year after it was hailed by President Barack Obama as an example of the recovering U.S. economy."
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/01/04/3167317...
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Post @Bobolinsky
Jan '13

MarkJM

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The real number of unemployed and under-employed is approximately 22.7 million. This means that the REAL unemployment rate is approximately 15% (not the happy-face 7.8% the media wants to tout). The Dept. of Labor has done this during past administrations as well. They fudge the numbers to put a happy face on for the media. Right now according to the Dept. of Labor there are approx. 12.2 million Americans on unemployment. That means the 10.5 million they aren't counting have either given up looking for work or are stuck in a part-time position (also which is not counted by the Dept. of Labor). Of course the Dept. of Labor wouldn't count the REAL numbers because that wouldn't play out well on Wall St., or at the White House....
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Jan '13

Sharpshooter

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WOW..... Dog bites Man. Can anyone here tell me what ALWAYS happens in December around the 25th? Does this event have any chance of effecting the jobs market, such as retailers adding people to cover the possibility of some strange unknown event that may increase the number of people in their store?

Typical Lame propaganda effort... nobody could have predicted this or have remembered what happened for the last several Decembers.

The Headline is 155,000 jobs added and the sheep are toasting their boy's success with more Grape Kool-Aid. Anybody notice the 7.8% rate remaining the same?

How does that happen? Since the unemployment percent is a factor of the total work force and total number of unemployed, if you change one of those two numbers the percentage will change.

REALLY removing 155000 people from the unemployed rolls would translate to a .1% decrease in the unemployment percentage.

Since the 7.8% unemployment figure has pretty much stagnated since September, I hardly think we're seeing anything a reasoned person could call recovery.

Figures often lie and liars always figure.... The stats are here... http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pd... ....

The puppet sure doesn't look like much of a wizard right now.... time for a costume change.
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Jan '13

Johnny

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Idk, u tell me what happend during Bushs last Christams in office when we lost jobs instead of adding them and then tell me.
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Jan '13

Sharpshooter

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@Johnny Tell you what?

NEWSFLASH!!!!!!! George W Bush completed his second term in the office of President of the United States on January 20, 2009.

Some guy from Kenya was sworn into the office on that day with the expectation of many people in the country that HE would take charge.

Obviously, Johnny, you are among the many who are so unimpressed by his work that you become confused and think George W. Bush is still President. As much as you and I wish it were true, sadly, it's not and this obama boy is.

Reality sometimes sucks, but it's the only one we have. I'm sure he's really trying to do a good job, but golf, playing superhero and hobnobbing seem to get in the way. Sorry to break it to you maybe next time you'll be more careful with your vote.
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Post @Sharpshooter
Jan '13

Johnny

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@Sharpshooter I understand who President is now. I was trying to show you and everyone we are finally doing better with all the tragedys like Sandy, etc we still added jobs. Though people are acting like its not enough adding jobs is ALOT more than losing 800,000 like under Bush. No I definatly do not agree with Obama on support gays or the fact they should have more rights because they shouldnt. Being gay is a sickness of the mind, through the Lord only they can be delivered. Im also against abortions because whether people like it or not, killing is killing no matter how you pit it. let someone abort a puppy and watch activist go stupid! But to get back on topic. Economicly, Obama is doing a good job in a bad mess. At least that is what I pray alot.
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Post @Johnny
Jan '13

Speedieg

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I do see signs of improvement but I am concerned about the younger Americans. Almost everyone in my company is 35 or older. We can not seem to find younger people with the right skills or even willing to try. I truly believe they must be out there but there is some disconnect in how to locate and recruit them.
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Jan '13

ConserveUSA

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Agreed.
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Post @ConserveUSA
Jan '13

PNWest

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We continue to did out of the worst economic downturn since the great depression. Slowly but surely.
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Jan '13

DARSB

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Now if the new Congress could stop frightening investors and Wall Street with irresponsible fiscal hysteria...
- B1 • Vote Up r2 Replies
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Jan '13

artjeb

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Now can we use some of OBAMA'S hope & change ?
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Jan '13

Packersfan1018

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You must have misunderstood Barry. He did not mean to say hope and change he meant to say hope to change this country to a socialist government.
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Post @Packersfan1018
Jan '13

artjeb

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Some jobs were during the holidays as temporarity. During the holidays I seen a lot of employees on the floors helping customers. NOW there are very few floor workers.... season ends. jobs gone.
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Jan '13

artjeb

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oops temporary.
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Post @artjeb
Jan '13

Dan_Tien

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It is difficult to tell what this data really means, since the seasonally adjusted unemployment rates has not been calculated by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for December (as linked in the article).
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Jan '13

Sabio

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it is a sign that they are seasonal employees for the holidays, same as last year and the year before and every year before that! Now we can welcome all those freshly laid off "SEASONAL" employees to the labor pool and unemployment bennies for life!
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Jan '13

tomincali

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from what i understand all these job are not even covering all the new immigrants being brought in. if all these jobs are not going to unemployed citizens what is the point?this thing needs to stop.
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Jan '13

harold_lloyd

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In the long run, the economy will fix itself.
The Congress too confused to do anything effective, but as soon as the economy is perking along, some pol will claim credit for it.
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Jan '13

Thegrif

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You can not put a positive spin on this because it does not paint the whole picture. , the 155,000 is not a NET increase in jobs. The real number would need to also first account for how many jobs were lost in Dec. plus as I told you before the real numbers will show in Feb and March.
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Politix

Is this jobs report a sign that the economy is improving?

Is this jobs report a sign that the economy is improving?