The U.S. economy added 74,000 jobs in December, far below economists' expectations of 200,000 for the month, CNBC reported. The unemployment rate fell to 6.7 percent from 7 percent, the Labor Department also announced. The jobless rate fell in part because more Americans stopped looking for work, according to the AP. Hiring has averaged 214,000 jobs a month for the past four months, the AP reported. Cold weather may have played a role in producing the weakest job creation in nearly three years. Economists Mark Zandi and Austan Goolsbee said on CNBC, though, that December's jobs numbers will likely be revised higher in future counts.
