U.S. unemployment dropped to 9.4 percent in December, its lowest level in 19 months, the Department of Labor announced Friday. The economy added 103,000 new jobs, up from November's revised estimate of 71,000, but less than analysts had predicted. The drop in the unemployment rate came during retailers' best holiday season in four years, but was also bolstered by people who stopped looking for work. Once someone has stopped hunting for a job, the government no longer counts them in unemployment numbers.
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