Employment Situation: Still Improving, But Not That Fast

Nonfarm payrolls expanded by a meager 74,000 in December, but the unemployment rate dropped a significant 0.3 percentage points to 6.7%. There were no revisions to October (stayed at +200,000), but November was revised up 38,000 (to +241,000). For 2013, payrolls expanded an average of 182,000 per month compared with 183,000 per month for 2012.