Unemployment Down But Not Because of Job Growth

12/3/11 – The nation’s unemployment rate is the lowest in two-and-a-half years – but not because of massive job growth. The Labor Department said about 300-thousand people gave up their search for jobs in November, which means they’re no longer officially listed among the unemployed. That helped drive down the nation’s jobless rate to eight-point-six percent. It was nine-percent in October. Senior economist Jennifer Lee of the B-M-O group that Wisconsin’s former M-and-I Banks said the U-S job market is growing modestly, but it’s growing. About 140-thousand private sector jobs were added last month, about average for the year. Wisconsin’s statewide jobless rate will be announced later this month, followed a few days later by local rates.