Jobless rate rises to 5 percent, highest rate since Nov. 2005, Slowest additions of jobs since August 2003 Options

[dauss]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22502713/

WASHINGTON - Hiring practically stalled in December, driving the nation’s unemployment rate up to 5 percent, a two-year high. The new figures fan fears the economy could slide into a recession.

Last month, employers added the fewest new jobs to their payrolls in more than four years, said the jobs report released Friday by the Labor Department. The report also showed that employment conditions are deteriorating, strained by a housing slump and credit crunch that are sapping economic strength.

The unemployment rate jumped from 4.7 percent in November to 5 percent in December, the highest since November 2005 after the Gulf Coast hurricanes dealt the country a mighty blow. Payrolls — both private employers and government — grew by just 18,000 last month, the worst showing since August 2003, when the economy suffered job losses as it struggled to recover from the 2001 recession.

The December employment picture was much weaker than economists were expecting. They were forecasting the unemployment rate to bump up to 4.8 percent and for employers to add around 70,000 jobs to their payrolls.

Employers have grown cautious as they try to cope with fallout from housing and credit problems and rising uncertainty about how the economy will fare in the months ahead. Galloping energy prices and bad weather in some parts of the country also probably figured into the weak job figures.

Manufacturers, construction companies, financial services all cut jobs in December - casualties of the housing slump. Retailers also sliced jobs.

The government added 31,000 jobs in December, while private employers actually cut payrolls by 13,000, underscoring the weakness.

For all of 2007, the unemployment rate averaged 4.6 percent, the same as last year.

The 5 percent rate is relatively low by historical standards. In the recession of the early 1980s, for example, the jobless rate reached double-digit levels.

Nevertheless, with the economy losing momentum, the White House and some economists at the Federal Reserve predict that the jobless rate will average 4.9 percent this year.

[impala454]

5% for the month of december... whoopteedo. Not all that shocking and I'd be interested to see if the unemployment rate goes up every december. The employment rate has been very good the past several years. Leave it to some jackass at msnbc to twist numers and try to make it look otherwise with elections coming up.