Unemployment Rate Falls Below 5%

- The Change in Non-farm Payrolls for December was 108K versus estimates of 200K and an upwardly revised 305K in November.
- The Change in Manufacturing Payrolls for December was 18K versus estimates of 0K and 8K in November.
- The Unemployment Rate for December fell to 4.9% versus estimates of 5.0% and a rate of 5.0% in November.
- Average Hourly Earnings for December rose .3% versus estimates of a .2% gain and a .1% rise in November.

BOTTOM LINE: The US economy added 108,000 jobs in December, capping the second straight year American employers added more than 2 million workers, Bloomberg said. Overall, this report is positive for stocks as 108,000 new jobs is enough to keep unemployment low without generating substantial unit labor cost increases, which account for two-thirds of inflation. I expect this trend to continue over the intermediate-term.