Cosmic Iguana - Voice of the Evil Doers

Job growth in the U.S. comes to virtual halt

Louis Uchitelle/NYT NYT, Saturday, January 10, 2004

Only 1,000 positions added in December; 150,000 were forecast

NEW YORK -- U.S. job growth came to an unexpected halt in December, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday, as thousands of people disappeared from the officially recorded labor force rather than hunt for scarce work.

Most forecasters thought that December would be a breakthrough month for job creation, given the strengthening economy. But instead of the 150,000 new jobs they had on average expected, there were only 1,000.

The unemployment rate dropped to 5.7 percent from 5.9 percent in November, but that was mainly because so many people chose not to look for work, a requirement to be counted as unemployed.... [*]