Surprising Jobless Decline Gives Bernanke Little Cheer

The surprising drop in unemployment to the lowest level in more than five years gives Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke little to cheer about.

Employers in December expanded payrolls at the slowest pace in three years, and workers leaving the labor force accounted for much of the plunge in the jobless rate to 6.7 percent from 7 percent.