Employment increased by 31,000 in December. After pausing in June and July, employment has increased for five consecutive months, bringing gains over the year to 319,000 (+2.2%). This was slower growth than in 1999, when employment increased by 427,000 (+3.0%).
With the employment gain in December, the unemployment rate dipped 0.1 percentage points to 6.8%, ending the year where it began.
The increase in employment in December was equally split between full-time and part-time work. Since the upward trend in employment resumed in August, more 90% of the gains have been in full-time. Despite this recent upturn in full-time work, however, both full- and part-time employment increased at the same rate over the course of 2000 (+2.2%).
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