Unemployment Rate Shows Surprise Improvement to 9.7%
The unemployment rate in the U.S. unexpectedly fell in January to 9.7 percent, the lowest level since August 2009, from the previous month's reading of 10 percent according to the labor department on Friday.
U.S. companies cut 20,000 nonfarm payroll jobs last month, while more workers were given overtime hours instead of new hires being added to the workforce. The drop in employment was due in large part to the decline in construction jobs and government positions.
Economists had estimated that the unemployment rate would rise to 10.1 percent and that 15,000 jobs would be created.
The December nonfarm payroll data was revised to show a drop of 20,000, compared to the previous reading of a loss of 150,000 jobs. November was also revised to an increase of 64,000 in payrolls from the gain of 4,000 previously reported.
While some companies have announced that they plan to create jobs as the economy slowly recovers, it will take quite some time to regain the 8.4 million jobs that were lost over the past two years. President Barack Obama has stated recently that job creation is his administration's top priority.
The so-called "underemployment" rate, which includes everyone in the official rate plus workers who are neither at work or currently looking for work but have looked for work recently and that want a job, fell to 16.5 percent in January from 17.3 percent in the month prior.
Areas that showed solid growth in employment for January were the temporary services and retail trade sectors, while construction, transportation and warehousing industry employments continued to fall.
The change in manufacturing payrolls showed an increase of 11,000, versus the economist consensus of a 20,000 decline.
The average work week for all employees increased to 33.9 hours from 33.8 in the prior month, while the average hourly compensations increased to $18.89 from $18.84.
Create E-mail AlertRelated Categories
Economic DataRelated Entities
Sign up for StreetInsider Free!
Receive full access to all new and archived articles, unlimited portfolio tracking, e-mail alerts, custom newswires and RSS feeds - and more!
