U.S. Employment Climbs More Than Expected In December

(RTTNews) - With employment in the U.S. increasing by somewhat more than expected in the month of December, the Labor Department released a report on Friday showing that the unemployment rate fell to its lowest level in well over six years.

The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment increased by 252,000 jobs in December after jumping by an upwardly revised 353,000 jobs in November. Employment had been expected to climb by about 245,000 jobs.

The stronger than expected job growth helped to push the unemployment rate down to 5.6 percent in December from 5.8 percent in November.

Economists had expected the unemployment rate to dip to 5.7 percent, and the bigger than expected drop pulled the rate down to its lowest level since June of 2008.