(Shaker Heights) - The unemployment rate is down to 6.7 percent -- the lowest level since October of 2008 -- but today's jobs report isn't a positive one.

The government says employers added just 74,000 jobs in December, the smallest number in three years, but admits the decline in the unemployment rate occurred partly because more Americans stopped looking for jobs.

Bonnie Dick of the Career Transition Center in Shaker Heights isn't impressed with the lower unemployment number of 6.7 percent. She doesn't believe the figure is an accurate reflection of the economy.

Dick says it may be true that the number fell because many of the unemployed have given up looking for work, but adds that a lot of job seekers don't know how to look. Adding that it takes more than searching help wanted listings online, you have to network and create relationships with potential employers.

Dick says the unemployment rate might be a lot lower if companies offered on the job training. She contends many good prospects are turned away because they don't meet every single qualification.

She maintains there are other barriers keeping the jobless index higher than it should be, like underfunded education programs, and discrimination against middle aged workers.

Dick also says it would help if more people really cared about the unemployed. She claims programs like hers that help people start new careers are severely underfunded.

