Unemployment Rate Holds at 10% in December

The U.S. unemployment rate stayed at 10% in December, the same rate as November, the Labor Department said Friday.

Employers trimmed payrolls by 85,000 jobs, and revisions showed that payrolls increased by 4,000 in November, Labor said.

After the revision, November was the first month in almost two years to see an increase in jobs.

Economists had forecast both payrolls and the jobless rate to be unchanged in December, Bloomberg reported.

Factory payrolls fell by 27,000 jobs, following a 35,000 drop in November. The decline included a 4,900-jobs decline in auto manufacturing and parts industries.

Service industries lost 4,000 workers following a gain of 62,000 the previous month.