Jobs, Unemployment Rate | featured news

A burst of hiring in December pushed the U.S. unemployment rate to its lowest level in nearly three years, giving the economy a boost at the end of 2011. The Labor Department said Friday that employers added a net 200,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate fell to 8.5 percent, the lowest since February 2009. The rate has dropped for four straight months

While the unemployment rate dipped to 9 percent, the improvement was seen as mediocre.

California's unemployment rate dipped below 12% in September, and nearly 12,000 new jobs were created.

People like Christine Alonzo are keeping President Barack Obama afloat and giving his political team hope that he can win re-election despite high unemployment and sour attitudes about his policies and the country's future.

Even if Congress heeds President Barack Obama's demands to "pass this bill right away" and enacts his jobs and tax plan in its entirety, the unemployment rate probably still would hover in nosebleed territory for at least three more years.

Jobless rates in 20 states were above the national rate of 9.1 percent in August, with Nevada's level springing up to 13.4 percent, the Labor Department said on Friday.

Job creation came to a halt in August, according to new government data that show an economic recovery that appears to be sputtering out. The Labor Department on Friday reported zero net job creation in August, far worse than the 68,000 net jobs analysts had expected to be added. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 9.1 percent. The July job growth number was revised downward, as well, to only 85,000 jobs added that month — not the 117,000 estimated.

Job growth in the U.S. rebounded higher in July and the unemployment rate edged lower, the government reported Friday, providing a pinch of good news amid turmoil in global markets and intensifying fears of a recession.

Hiring slowed to a near-standstill last month, raising doubts that the economy will rebound in the second half of the year after a spring slump.

The nation's job market took a turn for the worse last month as employers sharply pulled back their hiring and the unemployment rate edged up to 9.1%, the Labor Department said Friday.