WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The US economy added 156,000 jobs in the last month of 2016, but overall employment numbers were relatively stagnant, the US Department of Labor said in a press release on Friday.
"Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 156,000 in December, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 4.7 percent," the release stated.
Overall, the economy added an average of 165,000 jobs per month in the fourth quarter of 2016.
The unemployment rate increased slightly from 4.6 percent in November to 4.7 percent in December.
Both the unemployment rate and the number of employed persons, at 7.5 million, changed little from November and declined in the fourth quarter.
The US economy added 2.2 million jobs in 2016 and the unemployment rate declined slightly from 4.9 to 4.7 percent.
