US job growth slows to 50,000 in December as unemployment falls to 4.4%

The U.S. Department of Labor said on the 9th (local time) that nonfarm payrolls in the United States increased by 50,000 in December from the previous month.

The increase fell short of the 73,000 forecast compiled by Dow Jones.

However, the department revised down the net change in jobs for October–November last year by a total of 76,000. It revised October from a decrease of 105,000 to a decrease of 173,000, and November last year from an increase of 64,000 to an increase of 56,000.

The unemployment rate in December fell to 4.4% from the previous month. The November unemployment rate last year was revised down 0.1 percentage point, to 4.5% from the previous 4.6%.