Joblessness Up Last Month but Off 1 Point for All ’84

The U.S. unemployment rate rose to 7.2% last month from 7.1% in November but fell a full point overall in 1984, the government announced today in a report the White House said capped off a “banner year.”

(California’s jobless rate dropped from 7.3% to 7.0% in December, the lowest mark since the 6.9% in August, 1981.

(The figure in the greater Los Angeles area was also 7.0%, matching the rate in December, 1983. The November rate was 7.1%.)

“The total employment picture for 1984 was very impressive . . . 1984 has been a banner year for the work force,” White House spokesman Larry Speakes said in a statement.

The jobless rate had not gone up since July, when it rose to 7.5% from 7.2% in June, according to the Labor Department report, which contained annual revisions.

Analysts dismissed December’s increase as insignificant. Instead, they focused their attention on a series of improvements that occurred, including further job growth and a lengthening in the average workweek.

“Overall, it’s a pretty strong report,” said David Berson, an economist at Wharton Econometric Forecasting Associates.

Another 341,000 Americans found work in December, indicating that the economy had enough strength to spur new jobs.

In 1984, 3 million new jobs were added to the economy, bringing the employment rolls to a record 106.3 million.

Analysts attached extra importance to the continuing expansion in employment at non-agricultural businesses, where 309,000 more jobs were filled in December.

The workweek averaged 35.3 hours last month, slightly longer than 35.2 hours in November.

Factory staff averaged 40.7 hours on the job each week last month and put in 3.4 hours of overtime. The factory workweek was an average 40.5 hours in November.

The economy expanded at an estimated 2.8% annual rate in the fourth quarter of 1984, a bit of an acceleration from the 1.6% pace recorded in the third period but much slower than the 8.6% growth of the first half.

The rate, which stood at 7.5% when President Reagan took office in 1981, deteriorated during the recession and hit 10.7% in November, 1982.

Administration economists expect the unemployment rate to fall below 7% this year.

The December job report included annual revisions, which in most cases were minor. The November unemployment rate was first reported as 7.2% but was changed to 7.1% as part of the revision process.

Rates for key groups were:

--White workers, 6.2%, up from 6.1%.

--Black workers, 15%, down from 15.1%.

--Latino workers, 10.2%, up from 10.1%.

--Black teen-agers, 42.1%, up from 41.2%.