Quick Unemployment Reax.

It's not quite the late Christmas gift the Obama administration was hoping for, nor is it the disaster they'd feared: Unemployment held steady at at 10 percent in December, after 85,000 jobs were lost during the month. This came after only 11,000 jobs were lost 4,000 jobs were gained* in November, which had raised expectations that the next month might finally show some significant job growth. The best news? This is the first month where the unemployment rate has held steady (it was also 10 percent in November) and if you include October's 10.1 percent rate, that's three months of plateau. (It doesn't appear to be a stastical trick, either, as the number of people in the workforce appears to have declined by only 3/10 of a percent).Of course, no one will trumpet 10 percent unemployment as a victory, because it's not, especially while the U-6 number -- the more accurate measure of how the labor market affects peoples lives -- remains at an astonishing 17.3 percent. Let me continue to emphasize what we've been emphasizing for a while: More must be done both fiscally -- ahem, Congress -- and in monetary policy -- Mr. Bernanke, I'm looking at you -- to get these numbers moving in the right direction. More on this later today ...

-- Tim Fernholz *Missed that revision.