US EMPLOYMENT HIGHLIGHTS – DECEMBER (BLS) 🔸 Job growth continued in food services, health care, and social assistance; retail trade lost jobs. 🔸 October payrolls revised down by 68K to -173K; November revised down by 8K to +56K. 🔸 Unemployment rate held at 4.4%, with 7.5 million unemployed. 🔸 Food services and drinking places added 27K jobs; retail trade lost 25K. 🔸 Average hourly earnings rose $0.12 (+0.3%) to $37.02.(*Walter Bloomberg)