The United States economy added 252,000 jobs in December 2014 pushing unemployment to fall from 5.8% to 5.6%, according to the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).    

These very encouraging numbers also show that unemployment fell an entire percentage point in 2014 from 6.6% in January to 5.6% by the end of the year.  Growth in multiple industries occurred last year.  Professional and business services employment rose by 52,000 in December, while construction added 48,000 jobs in the same month.  Manufacturing saw an increase year over year from 2013, while employment in retail grew by almost 250,000 in 2014.     

While the news of job growth is extremely encouraging, these statistics were a little bit offset by a dip in the average hourly earnings, which fell by 5 cents in December from the month prior.  On average, however, hourly earnings did rise year over year, although it was extremely small.     

The labor force participation rate also decreased and the number of people who are referred to as “involuntary part-time workers” remained the same.  Another number that remained the same was the number of people classified as wanting to work but who aren’t actively seeking work.         

To some HR experts probably the most important part of the BLS data was the fact that the number of “discouraged workers” dropped by almost 200,000 year over year.  This is defined as a group who have given up looking for work.  Overall human resource professionals are calling the data from the BLS proof that the country is moving in the right direction.