US unemployment rate holds steady in December at 7.8%

Help

The US economy added a further 155,000 jobs in December, while the unemployment rate held steady at 7.8%, official figures show.

The jobs came mainly in the healthcare, manufacturing, construction and food services sectors, the Labor Department said.

The total number of unemployed in the US was largely unchanged at 12.2 million.

Schroders' chief economist Keith Wade told BBC News that the increase in jobs was marginally stronger than expected.

BBC © 2013 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.