Unemployment Up; Number Revised Upward For Previous Month; Job Growth -- An Oxymoron

Updates

Later, 1:17 pm est: don't take my word for it. Check out Business Insider for the scariest employment curve ever, according to Drudge Report.  And invariably, folks are going to write in, defending the first four years of the Obama administration. That's fine. Americans avoided a silver bullet by not falling for Mitt. Cue up Connie Stevens.

Original Post

Remember: the magic number is 200,000

Added jobs: 155,000 vs expectation of 161,000

Unemployment rose slightly; now back up to 7.8 percent, and the rate was revised upward for November, also 7.8 percent.

But the AP thought happy days were here again: jobs growth -- a steady gain. Wow!

U.S. employers added 155,000 jobs in December, a steady gain that shows hiring held up during tense fiscal cliff negotiations in Washington.

The solid job growth wasn't enough to push down the unemployment rate, which stayed 7.8 percent last month, according to the Labor Department's report Friday. November's rate was revised higher from an initially reported 7.7 percent. 

And more:

Still, the economy is improving. Layoffs are declining, and the number of people who sought unemployment aid in the past month is near a four-year low.  

Really? I guess the operative word is "near."

The bottom line is month-after-month for four years, no significant change.