Joseph Brusuelas of McGladrey’s discusses latest unemployment report

Global Business

A Labor Department report on Friday showed that employers added 252,000 jobs in December 2014 and 50,000 more in October and November 2014 combined, than the government had previously estimated. The unemployment rate dropped to 5.6 percent from 5.8 percent in November 2014, the lowest rate since 2008.

The government’s report did point to some weaknesses, notably in Americans’ paychecks, which have barely kept ahead of inflation during the five-and-a-half-year recovery. In December 2014, average hourly pay actually fell.

And one reason the unemployment rate fell last month is that many of the jobless gave up looking for work and so were no longer counted as unemployed.

The unemployment rate is now near at levels the Federal Reserve considers consistent with a healthy economy, one reason the Fed is expected to raise interest rates from record lows by the middle of this year.

Plummeting oil prices and weak pay growth are helping keep inflation even lower than the Fed’s 2 percent target rate. Many economists think inflation may fail to reach even 1 percent this year. A result is that the Fed could feel pressure to avoid raising rates anytime soon.

CCTV America’s Michelle Makori interviewed Joseph Brusuelas, chief economist with consulting firm McGladrey, about the unemployment report.

Joseph Brusuelas of McGladrey\'s discusses latest unemployment report

A Labor Department report on Friday showed that employers added 252,000 jobs in December 2014 and 50,000 more in October and November 2014 combined, than the government had previously estimated. The unemployment rate dropped to 5.6 percent from 5.8 percent in November 2014, the lowest rate since 2008. CCTV America's Michelle Makori interviewed Joseph Brusuelas, chief economist with consulting firm McGladrey, about the unemployment report.

Follow Joseph Brusuelas on Twitter @joebrusuelas

Story compiled with information from The Associated Press.