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NewsFlash: December 8, 2006

Service sector shows solid job gains

Jobs grew by 132,000 in November, with the help of robust service sector employment.  Over this year, the average monthly job growth has maintained the level needed to keep the labor market expanding while preventing unemployment from rising, according to today’s  Jobs Picture by EPI senior economist Jared Bernstein.  This release marks the fifth year of this economic recovery.  Bernstein finds that job growth over this recovery is the slowest of the three previous recoveries that have lasted at least this long.

“The uniquely weak performance in job growth over this expansion is one reason why its benefits have been slow to reach many working families, many of whom are only now starting to see some real gains” said Bernstein.