Unemployment drops to 6.7%; November revised adding 38K more than previously thought

New job hires rose only 74,000 in December, the smallest increase since January 2011, and the unemployment rate fell 0.3 percentage point to 6.7 percent, the Labor Department said on Friday.

The unemployment rate was the lowest since October 2008.

The step back in hiring is at odds with other employment indicators that have painted an upbeat picture of the jobs market. The data showed that 38,000 more jobs were added in November than previously reported.

"It looks like it's a weather issue.  Construction firms cut 16,000 jobs, the biggest drop in 20 months, and there was a 1,000 job drop in transportation. People will focus on the unemployment rate drop and the upward revision to the prior month," said John Canally, an economist for LPL Financial in Boston

Construction employment fell for the first time since May and leisure and hospitality payrolls rose marginally, suggesting that extremely cold weather in some parts of the country had held back hiring.

(via Yahoo News)