Labor Department

Labor Department: WASHINGTON U.S. employers added a scant 74,000 jobs in December, the fewest in three years. The disappointing figure ended 2013 on a weak note and raises questions about whether the job market can sustain its recent gains, according to The Chronicle Herald. The Labor Department said Friday that the unemployment rate fell from 7 per cent in November to 6.7 per cent, its lowest level since October 2008. But the drop occurred mostly because many Americans stopped looking for jobs. Once people without jobs stop looking for one, the government no longer counts them as unemployed and Economists cautioned that cold weather likely played a role in the sharp slowdown in hiring. Job gains had averaged 214,000 in the previous four months. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.