For Immediate Release: Friday, January 4, 2013
Contact: Phoebe Silag or Donte Donald, news@epi.org 202-775-8810

The December 2012 employment situation report released this morning by the Bureau of Labor Statistics marks five years since the official start of the Great Recession in December 2007 and three and a half years since the official start of the recovery in June 2009. The numbers for December sustained the status quo; the labor market added 155,000 jobs, right in line with the 153,000 average of the first 11 months of the year, and the unemployment rate, at 7.8 percent, was unchanged from the revised November unemployment rate.  In her analysis, EPI economist Heidi Shierholz notes how real wages also remained flat over the last year, as persistent high unemployment has exerted strong downward pressure on wage growth.   Roughly in line with inflation, average hourly wages have risen at a 2.1% rate over the last year.