ABC 15 – December Jobs Report: Employers Add 199,000 Jobs, Unemployment Falls to 3.9%
U.S. employers added a modest 199,000 jobs last month while the unemployment rate fell sharply, at a time when businesses are struggling to fill jobs, with many Americans remaining reluctant to return to the workforce.
The Labor Department also said Friday that the nation’s unemployment rate fell to a healthy 3.9% from 4.2% in November. Though unemployment continues to fall, the U.S. in December added jobs at a slower rate than it did in November, when the economy added 210,000 jobs.
Speaking at the White House Friday, President Joe Biden said the report marked a “historic day,” noting that the unemployment rate fell below 4%. He noted that it marked the sharpest single-year decline in unemployment in U.S. history.
However, the report fell short of analyst projections. CNBC reports that forecasters expected the U.S. had added 422,000 jobs in the month of December.
