Official Unemployment Inches Down to 7 Percent

203,000 jobs added in November

The U.S. economy added a better-than-expected 203,000 jobs in November, sending the unemployment rate down to 7 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Friday.

Economists had expected the government to report about 180,000 new jobs, down from an initially reported 204,000 in October. The unemployment rate had been expected to decline a notch to 7.2 percent from 7.3 percent.