Food and beverage stores added 5,700 positions in December, building on a smaller gain recorded the previous month, according to preliminary data released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Restaurants and bars generated 26,000 jobs last month, down from more than twice that amount in November. Employers created 223,000 non-farm jobs in December, and the unemployment rate ticked down to 3.5% compared to the 3.7% rate recorded in November.