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Librado Romero/The New York
Times
Gina and Stephen Shadis were laid off within the last 14 months from jobs they had held for more than a decade. They are now each receiving $548 per week in federal jobless benefits. |
The U.S. economy added 155,000 jobs in December, keeping the unemployment rate steady at just below 8 percent, according to Friday's job report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Despite keeping the unemployment rate at its lowest levels since 2008, economists warned that future job growth is unlikely, as they wait for the effects of superstorm Sandy to hit the economy—and also the effect of the Jan. 1 tax hikes. November's job numbers were revised upward slighty from an initial reporting of 7.7 percent unemployment rate.