WASHINGTON - The unemployment rate held steady at 4.0 percent in December 2000 as the number of workers on payrolls grew modestly, the U.S. government said on Jan. 5, 2001, in a report that added to recent signs of a slowing economy. Although the rate was steady, economic analysts are pointing to a potential slowdown in the economy that may yield a hig0102her rate for January.

Payrolls outside the farm sector grew by 105,000 after a sharply downwardly revised gain of 59,000 in November, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said in its monthly employment report. November's increase had previously been reported as 94,000.

The data are the latest in a series of reports depicting a downturn in the once-buoyant U.S. economy. Eager to soften the blow, the Federal Reserve slashed key short-term interest rates by an aggressive half percentage point. Financial markets widely expect the U.S. central bank to cut rates further when policymakers hold their next meeting on Jan. 30-31.