The fact is, job growth was vigorous throughout 2014, averaging 246,000 per month – three million for the year – bringing the unemployment rate down to 5.6% in December 2014 (from 6.7% a year earlier). This represented an acceleration relative to the monthly average of 185,000 in 2011-2013, and it looks even better compared to the previous economic expansion of 2002-2007, when monthly job creation stood at 102,000.