By Jeffrey Sparshott and Jeff Bater; Wall Street Journal

The U.S. economy added fewer jobs than expected in December, but the unemployment rate fell to its lowest level in 19 months as more people who still remain in the work force found employment.

Nonfarm payrolls rose by 103,000 last month as private-sector employers added 113,000 jobs, the Labor Department said Friday. The November number was revised up significantly to show an increase of 71,000 jobs from a previous estimate of 39,000.

The unemployment rate, which is obtained from a separate household survey, fell to 9.4% last month, the lowest level since May 2009 and the biggest fall in more than a decade. Still, about 14.5 million people who would like to work can't get a job.

Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast payrolls would rise by 150,000 and that the jobless rate would fall slightly to 9.7%.

The U.S. unemployment rate has now been above 9% since May 2009, or 20 months. That is the longest stretch at such an elevated level since the Second World War. In the recession of the early 1980s, the jobless rate crept to 9% in March 1982 and remained above that mark until September 1983.

Still, there are signs the economy is improving, if only slowly, 19 months after the recession ended.

The Labor Department on Thursday said initial unemployment claims rose in the week ended Jan. 1, but the figure was lower than expected and the underlying pace of layoffs continued to subside.

A day earlier, payroll giant Automatic Data Processing Inc. estimated that the number of private-sector jobs in the U.S. rose by 297,000 last month, the strongest gain since ADP began collecting the data in 2000. ADP's survey typically doesn't match government figures.

And the latest data from the Commerce Department showed that factory orders rose in November, another sign that the manufacturing sector is growing.

Despite some bright spots, Federal Reserve officials have called the high unemployment rate disappointing and forecast that it will recede only slowly. At its most recent meeting last month, the Fed's Open Market Committee reiterated its support for a plan to buy $600 billion in U.S. Treasury notes through June in an effort to spur growth.

The Labor Department Friday said that private-sector employers, which account for about 70% of the work force, added 113,000 jobs in December after adding a revised 79,000 in November.

The December breakdown showed showed gains in mining and manufacturing, while construction continued to fall.

The manufacturing sector has been an important source of jobs during the recovery. Sector employment gained 10,000 in December.

Total government employment, meantime, fell by 10,000 as local governments shed jobs.

The report showed 44.3% of unemployed Americans, or 6.4 million people, were out of work for more than six months in December. The longer someone is without a job, the harder it is to find work.

Meanwhile, the average workweek for all employees was steady at 34.3 hours in December. Employers normally increase the hours for their existing work force before hiring new people.

Average hourly earnings of all employees increased by three cents to $22.78. Higher income helps support consumer spending. Accounting for about 70% of demand in the U.S. economy, household consumption remains weak compared with previous recoveries.