Dive Brief:
- Food and beverage stores added 5,700 positions in December, building on a smaller gain recorded the previous month, according to preliminary data released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
- Restaurants and bars generated 26,000 jobs last month, down from more than twice that amount in November.
- Employers created 223,000 non-farm jobs in December, and the unemployment rate ticked down to 3.5% compared to the 3.7% rate recorded in November.
