Unemployment rate fell slightly in Dec.
The nation's jobless rate dropped slightly to 6.4 percent in December, and the number of jobs nationwide increased modestly--news that the financial markets and economists viewed as reassuring signs that economic growth would be steady but not strong enough to revive inflation.</br></br>The unemployment rate fell to the lowest level since early 1991, down from 6.5 percent in November, the government reported yesterday. The November number, however, was revised upward from 6.4 percent initially reported a month ago. The adjustment was made to reflect seasonal variations.</br></br>The reports from the Labor Department were read as good news, partly because the prospect of moderate growth helped ease fears that the Federal Reserve Board would increase short-term interest rates to control inflation.</br></br>"The economy is on track for steady economic growth in 1994," said Laura D'Andrea Tyson, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. She noted that pressures that could lead to inflation appeared to be "tame."</br></br>Bruce Steinberg, a senior economist with Merrill Lynch & Co., said the Labor Department's unemployment release "is another good report in indicating that there really aren't significant inflationary pressures in the economy."