Good Job News (But, Granted, not Great Job News)

Jobless Rate Declined Again in November, to 5.9%

The nation's unemployment rate slipped to 5.9 percent in November, the lowest level in eight months, but employers added new jobs at a slower pace than expected.

The Labor Department reported Friday that the rate fell from 6 percent in October. The last time it was lower was in March, at 5.8 percent.

U.S. companies added 57,000 new jobs in November, boosting payrolls by 328,000 during the past four months following a half-year hiring drought. But analysts had predicted that about 150,000 new jobs would be added in November.

The jobs market ``is not improving as fast as we thought it was,'' said David Wyss, chief economist at Standard and Poor's DRI. ``It's true we've had four consecutive months of payroll growth, which is a start. But it's only a bare start.''

Still, we appear to be going in the right direction finally.