Jan. 28 (Bloomberg) — Payrolls increased in 30 states in December, and the jobless rate dropped in 39, showing the job market was mending across the world's largest economy.

Texas led the nation with a 17,600 gain in payrolls, followed by Florida with 14,100 more jobs, figures from the Labor Department showed today in Washington. Louisiana showed the biggest drop in joblessness last month, while North Carolina showed the largest decrease in 2013.

Advances in employment will help spur sustained consumer spending, which accounts for almost 70 percent of the economy. Federal Reserve policy makers, set to meet today and tomorrow, trimmed their monthly bond buying to $75 billion from $85 billion in part due to improvement in the labor market.

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