Sluggish hiring closes out a frustrating year for job seekers though unemployment slips to 4.4%

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER, Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Sluggish hiring last month closed out a year of weak employment gains that have frustrated job seekers even as layoffs and unemployment have also been low.

Employers added just 50,000 jobs in December, nearly unchanged from a downwardly revised figure of 56,000 in November, the Labor Department said Friday. The unemployment rate slipped to 4.4%, its first decline since June, from 4.5% in November, a figure also revised lower.

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