The U.S. economy added 50,000 jobs in December and its monthly unemployment rate dropped slightly to 4.4%, the Labor Department announced Friday.

The number of new jobs was less than expected, according to CNBC.

The annualized unemployment rate for November was 4.5%, according to the department's Bureau of Labor Statistics announcement.

The number of jobs added in November was 56,000, according to revised bureau analysis, according to the Associated Press. 

The data suggests that businesses are reluctant to add workers even as economic growth has picked up, the wire service also reports.