Job growth in the world's largest economy matched economists expectations in the last month of 2012, when non-farm payroll employment rose by 155,000 job opportunities following a gain of 161,000 jobs in November, the Labor Department reported on Friday. The report also showed the unemployment rate stayed unchanged at 7.8% in December.
"The overall picture is that the labor market remains lackluster," said Paul Ashworth, Chief U.S. Economist at Capital Economics. "If this state of affairs continues throughout most of this year, as we expect, then it is hard to see the Fed dialing back or stopping its QE purchases as some officials currently envisage," he added.