Hiring for 2004 hits five-year high

WASHINGTON - Employers hired workers in 2004 at the fastest pace in five years, with overall payrolls rising by 2.2 million. December's job growth was a bit lower than expected, with the unemployment rate holding at 5.4 percent.

President Bush called the numbers "very positive," but economists weren't quite so enthusiastic. One said the year went out "like a cow: beefy but docile."

The Labor Department reported Friday that employers expanded their payrolls by a net 157,000 in December, bringing the year's increase to the highest level since 1999. That year, 3.2 million jobs were created, based on a government survey of businesses. In 2003, there was a net reduction of 61,000 payroll jobs, the department said.

For the year, the average unemployment rate was 5.5 percent. That was the lowest since 2001, when the average annual rate was 4.7 percent.

Bush called the jobs report "a very positive set of numbers" that are proof the economy is growing.

The report didn't wow economists, but it didn't sour them either.

"2004 didn't go out like a lion, but it didn't go out like a lamb," said Ken Mayland, president of ClearView Economics. "It went out like a cow: beefy but docile." He added: "These aren't great results, but they're not tepid either. They're kind of in between."

The figures capped a presidential election year in which job creation was a big concern to many voters, and a potential liability to Bush. Job growth had been slow since the 2001 recession, puzzling economists and policy-makers who expected the labor market to bounce back more quickly.

But ultimately, the economy wasn't enough of a concern to deny Bush a second term.

"With the new year upon us, it's a good time to reflect on whether the economic news Wall Street salutes is equally good news for working families," said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney. Organized labor mobilized to defeat Bush in last year's election.

"Viewed through the prism of jobs - the measure Americans care about most, the economy remains unbalanced and unsettled, giving working families plenty of reason to worry about what may lie ahead," Sweeney said.

But with Friday's report, Bush is close to closing the gap in job creation that has plagued him for some time. There are now just 122,000 fewer jobs than when he took office in January 2001.