The last month of 2014 helped result a decline of the overall U.S. unemployment and the country's Latino unemployment rates.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced the overall U.S. unemployment rate declined to 5.6 percent for December. The BLS said the decline of the unemployment rate was a result of 252,000 non-farm payroll employment gains, particularly in the professional business services, construction, food services and drinking places, health care and manufacturing. The latest unemployment rate of 5.6 percent is a 0.2 percent decline from November's 5.8 percent. The BLS noted 8.7 million people remain unemployed, but the figure is down by 383,000 persons.

In comparison to December 2013, the unemployment rate fell by 1.1 percent, from 6.7 percent to 5.6 percent.

"The U.S. economy closed out the year on a continued hot streak -- 252,000 new jobs, with the unemployment rate falling to 5.6 percent. December was the 58th consecutive month of private sector job growth, to the tune of 11.2 million jobs. Average unemployment for 2014 was down 1.2 percentage points from 2013, the largest decrease since 1984," Department of Labor Thomas Perez said.

"The resolve and resilience of the American people, plus the steady hand of President Obama, pulled us out of the Great Recession and have put the economy on a sure path. There's still more to do, and the president is determined to make the fourth quarter of his term the most productive yet," Perez said, adding new work-related initiatives will be planned including support for Americans to own a home and a "new manufacturing innovation hub" and propose two years of community college free.

Within the Latino community, the unemployment rate declined by one-tenth percent, from 6.6 percent in November to 6.5 percent in December. In comparison to December 2013, the Latino unemployment rate saw a higher decline than the overall unemployment rate. December 2013's unemployment rate was 8.3 percent, and therefore the rate a year later fell by 1.8-percentage points.

Based on the BLS report for December, almost 24 million Latinos are employed (specifically, 23,988,000), but 1.656 million Hispanics are unemployed.

The unemployed among Latinos and Latinas over the age of 20 declined. The Latino male unemployment rate declined from 5.8 percent to 5.7 percent, and it is down from 7.5 percent in December 2013. With Latinas, the latest unemployment rate is 6.2 percent, down from November's 6.4 percent and last year's 8.1 percent.

Overall, Latinos between 16 and 19 years old saw their unemployment rate rise by 0.3 percentage points to 16.6 percent in December. Despite the increase, the unemployment rate within the 16-to-19-year-olds is down from 22.3 percent in December 2013.

"There is plenty of unfinished business in this recovery," Perez said. "We need to do more to achieve meaningful wage growth, because too many middle-class families are still working harder and falling further behind. We need to do more to ensure that the economy works for everyone, to create broadly shared prosperity.

"Looking ahead to 2015 with great confidence, we'll be building on the momentum of the nation's remarkable economic performance over the last year."

According to the Department of Labor, nearly three million jobs were added during 2014, which is considered the best rate since 1999.

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For the latest updates, follow Latin Post's Michael Oleaga on Twitter: @EditorMikeO or contact via email: m.oleaga@latinpost.com.

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