December’s US labor report indicates that 103,000 jobs were created in the final month of the year lowering the unemployment rate to 9.4 percent. While positive, the results were lower than the 150,000 prediction and provides further evidence that the economy is recovering at a slower pace than expected.
“Firms must ratchet up hiring before we can expect consistent trend growth for the economy,†Jeffrey Roach, chief economist at Horizon Investments in Charlotte, North Carolina, said before the report. “Slower job growth will weigh on consumer spending for the next few quarters.â€
Source: Bloomberg
