The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative
Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other
shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org.
January 9, 2012

Unemployment Rate Drops To 8.5%, Lowest Since 2009 
---------------------------------------------------



In economic news, the nation's official unemployment rate has dropped to
8.5 percent, its lowest level since early 2009. On Friday, the Labor
Department said that employers added a 200,000 jobs in December. But at
least 42,000 of the so-called new jobs were courier positions hired
ahead of the holiday shopping rush. President Obama hailed the jobs
figures and announced a new initiative to support American business
owners to shift work back home.

President Obama: "We're heading in the right direction. And we're not
going to let up. On Wednesday the White House will host a forum called
‘Insourcing American Jobs.’ We'll hear from business leaders who are
bringing jobs back home and see how we can help other businesses follow
their lead … Because this is a make or break moment for the middle
class and all those working to get there. We've got to keep at it. We've
got to keep creating jobs. And we've got to keep rebuilding our economy
so that everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share —
and everyone plays by the same rules."



.