New York – The U.S. Department of Labor reports that the nation’s unemployment rate in December fell to 8.5%, an increase of 0.2% over November’s 8.7%.

212,000 jobs were added to the U.S. labor force in December, compared to 120,000 jobs in November.  Overall, economists were forecasting a 150,000 increase in the unemployment rate for December.

The average work week rose to 34.4 hours in December, compared to 34.3 in the prior month.  Wages increased 0.2%.

While the news is encouraging, the U.S. economic recovery remains on a slow pace while the present administration in Washington continues to play party politics and Congress remains in a stalemate between Parties over economic stimulus and burgeoning U.S. budget.

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