The United States economy created just 74,000 jobs in December, the slowest pace in three years, disappointing both economists and policy makers who had concluded that the labor market was finally gaining some sustained momentum.
Experts had expected the economy would add just under 200,000 positions in December, and the huge shortfall also stood in sharp contrast with the overall pace of job creation in 2012 and 2013. In those years, employers added an average of 182,500 positions a month.
Just last month, the Federal Reserve announced it would begin pulling back on its enormous stimulus program after several months of healthier job gains. But the latest data calls into question whether the central bank’s optimism was premature.
The unemployment rate seemingly improved in December, falling to 6.7 percent from 7 percent in November. But there was a 0.8 percentage-point plunge in the labor participation rate, meaning that people were dropping out of the work force rather than finding new jobs.
Although some sectors, like retailing, posted decent gains, other sectors that had been healthy during 2013 reversed course in December, significantly lowering the overall performance of the job market.
For example, the construction industry lost 16,000 jobs in December, a sharp reversal from the 2013 average monthly gain of 10,000 jobs. Similarly, health care employment fell by 6,000, compared with monthly gains of 17,000 in 2013 and 27,000 in 2012.
The average workweek in the private sector fell to 34.4 hours, a drop of a tenth of an hour and another sign of weakness in the broader economy.
| 
