National Jobless Rate Holds Steady

The biggest spurt in factory hiring in nearly six years helped offset holiday layoffs at department stores to hold the unemployment rate steady at 5.6 percent in December.

In addition to the unemployment report, the Commerce Department released revised figures for overall growth. During the July-September quarter, the gross domestic product, the total output of goods and services, was expanding at an annual rate of 3.2 percent, slightly better than the previous estimate of 3 percent. The new-found strength was led by higher export growth.

But analysts widely believe growth slowed considerably in the final three months of the year.

The unemployment report noted that department stores and other retail establishments laid off 48,000 workers during December.

This decline was offset by a jump of 52,000 in factory jobs, the biggest increase since February 1990. However, the gain was inflated by the return of 31,000 striking Boeing workers.