jobs day

Final Jobs Report of 2012 Comes With No Surprises

A job seeker (L) meets with a recruiter during the East Bay HIREvent career fair at Centre Concord on June 5, 2012 in Concord, California. Job seekers met with recruiters who were offering a total of 700 jobs during the East Bay HIREvent. According to reports the U.S. unemployment rate for May was at 8.2 percent.
Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

The U.S. economy added 155,000 jobs in December, according to the new numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, ending the year about on par with expectations. The unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 7.8 percent, neither shocking nor pleasing anyone. Without the numbers’ political effects to speculate and obsess over, the figures already carry less intrigue, and no holiday-season spice or year-end irregularities shook things up. The Wall Street Journal did note that layoffs remain down from last year, “stoking optimism for more labor-market improvement in 2013.” Here’s to even more jobs in the new year.

U.S. Adds 155,000 Jobs in December Report