U.S. Ended 2004 With Gain in Payrolls
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Employers added 2.2 million jobs in 2004, the first annual increase in payrolls since before the 2001 recession and a turning point for the nation's labor market after three years of job losses.
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U.S. holdings of foreign securities  rose at the end of 2003 from the end of 2001, the Treasury  Department said on Friday.
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U.S. economic growth picked up in the fourth quarter, according to a government report Wednesday that showed an economy stronger than expected for the last three months of hte year.
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Economic growth slowed a bit in the final stretch of 2004, expanding at a still respectable 3.1 percent pace. For all of last year, though, the economy clocked in at its fastest clip since 1999, a compelling sign that the recovery is more deeply rooted.
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US employers boosted payrolls by 157,000 jobs in December, keeping the economy on a path of moderate expansion and completing the first year of job growth since 2000.
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The number of Americans filing initial claims for jobless pay grew unexpectedly last week to 357,000, Labor Department data showed on Thursday, but an official said an increase in the week after a public holiday was typical.
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The economy added 18,000 jobs to nonfarm payrolls, the smallest monthly gain in more than four years. The unemployment rate rose to 5 percent.
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The US economy created less jobs than expected in December,  but created more jobs in 2004 than any time since 1999.
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U.S. business productivity grew at a  1.6 percent annual rate in the second quarter, higher than  first estimated, the government said on Wednesday in a report  that also showed worker compensation up much more this year  than initially thought.
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U.S. employment costs rose a  slightly less-than-expected 0.7 percent in the fourth quarter  of 2004, as salaries and wages grew at their slowest rate in  nearly six years, a government report showed on Friday.
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U.S. factories picked up their pace in  December, capping off a year of expansion in the manufacturing  industry despite some recent signs of a downturn in employment,  a report showed on Monday.
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U.S. employers added 157,000 workers overall to their payrolls in December, bringing the year-end total of new jobs to 2.2 million, the best showing in five years. The unemployment rate held steady at 5.4 percent.
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The productivity of American workers rebounded at a rapid clip at the start of this year and wages posted a solid gain as well, the government reported Thursday.
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First-quarter hiring plans among US employers increased from the same period a year earlier, according to a survey released today by Manpower Inc.
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The U.S. economy grew at a stronger than expected pace during the final quarter of last year, boosted by robust spending and slowing inflation that more than offset the biggest decline in residential investment in 15 years, a government report on Wednesday showed.
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In business and finance, 2004 had a split personality. The economy grew at a solid pace, but jobs didn't. The technology sector finally revived, but soon began to consolidate. Airlines packed flights, but still lost billions.
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The US economy added a better-than-expected 132,000 jobs last month, official figures show.