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Summary
US unemployment fell dramatically to 9.4 percent in December; a boon for President Barack Obama but one tempered by evidence the economy is still not creating enough jobs.Labour Department data showed the unemployment rate fell last month to its lowest level since May 2009, although many fewer jobs were created than expected. Obama cautiously welcomed the news stating that we know these numbers can bounce around from month to month, but the trend is clear. The economy added 1.3 million jobs last year. And each quarter was stronger than the previous quarter, which means that the pace of hiring is beginning to pick up. Obama lauded the 113,00 jobs created by the private sector in December, gains that were partially eroded by local government losses but cautioned the unemployment rate was still unacceptably high. The sharp drop in unemployment from November's 9.8 percent rate blew most economists' expectations out of the water. But just 103,000 nonfarm jobs were created, many fewer than the 150,000 expected, reaffirming a trend of steady but unspectacular job growth. Since December 2009, payrolls have grown by an average of 94,000 a month.
