3 February 2012
Last updated at 11:28 ET
Jobs creation has been a major issue on the US election campaign trail
The US economy created 243,000 jobs in December, the highest total for nine months, official figures show.
The rise was much more than expected. Analysts had forecast an increase of about 150,000 jobs.
The unemployment rate dropped to 8.3%, which was the lowest rate in nearly three years, and down from a revised rate of 8.5% in December.
News of the jobs growth boosted share prices, with the Dow Jones index rising almost 1% on opening.
In Europe, the FTSE 100 index rose 1.2% while Germany’s Dax rose 1.4%. The Cac 40 in France was 0.6% higher.
Employment boost
However, a report on Wednesday by the US Congressional Budget Office, a federal agency, forecast that unemployment would climb to nearly 9% in the last three months of this year and peak at 9.2% early next year.
Friday’s data from the Labor Department showed job growth had been widespread, with large gains in
Read More from the Article Source: Full Article
