Anytime there's this significant a drop in the unemployment rate, it's obviously great news for our state.

The number of unemployment claims filed has decreased substantially over the last twelve months. This is good news for Missouri families and our state?s economy.

That one was kind of a no-brainer. We were eager to be able to rush the good news to the marketplace.

The addition of jobs by Texas employers, as well as the declining unemployment rate, is great news for the labor market.

This was not good news for the economy. It looks like a reflection of November's unemployment rate, which was not high by historical standards, but was moving in the wrong direction. Consumer spending probably also responded to retailers' expectations for Christmas -- consumers were told it would be a bad Christmas, retailers trimmed their inventories, and low consumer demand became a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The employment report certainly was positive for most workers. I can't find an area where the unemployment rate didn't decrease for any particular group.