US beats forecasts to create 200,000 jobs in December

The US created more jobs than forecast in December as the country's economy continued to signal it is returning to steady growth.

In total 200,000 new jobs were created last month, according to the Department of Labor's latest non-farm payroll release, well above the 150,000 forecast. However, the figure was tempered somewhat as November's jobs data - when 120,000 roles were initially thought to have been created - was revised down to 100,000. Meanwhile the unemployment rate dropped from 8.7% to 8.5%. It is the sixth month in a row the world's largest economy has added 100,000 jobs or more, and it will bring some relief to investors looking for positives in a global economy still deeply troubled by the eurozo...