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January 10, 2003 9:35 AM, EST

In its report on U.S. employment, the Labor Department said Friday that December non-farm payrolls dropped 101,000. This followed up a revised decline of 88,000 in November.

The overall unemployment rate in the United States was unchanged at 6% in December, Labor said.

Employment data are often seen as movers of consumer confidence and spending – both important to the trucking industry, which relies on consumer and corporate spending for much of its business.

For the 29th straight month, U.S. manufacturers shed jobs as factory employment fell 65,000 in December. The retail sector, another important customer of the trucking industry, saw payrolls fall 104,000 during the final month of the year.

Construction and government payrolls rose by 3,000 and 14,000 respectively in December.

Average hourly earnings rose 0.3% to $14.98 during the month, Labor said, but the average workweek shortened to 34.1 from 34.2 in November.

Analysts said that the trend of economic recovery without significant job creation is likely to continue into 2003, Bloomberg reported.