Jobless rate falls to 8.3%; November, December gains revised higher
By Jeffry Bartash, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — U.S. companies hired the most workers in nine months and the nation’s unemployment rate fell to the lowest level in almost three years, according to the government’s employment report for January.
The U.S. gained 243,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate dipped to 8.3% as nearly every sector of the economy added workers, the Labor Department said Friday.
The increase in hiring was the biggest since last April and supplies further evidence that the economy continues to strengthen after a slowdown last summer. The U.S. has added an average of 183,000 jobs a month in the past five months.
Hiring has also spread to most sectors of the economy. Jobs were added last month in manufacturing and construction, professional services, retail, health care, and food and restaurant establishments.
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Jobs growth: 243,000
January jobs growth surpasses expectations, and the unemployment rate fell to 8.3%. Plus, 2011 data revised to show better jobs growth.
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The increase easily surpassed Wall Street forecasts. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch, for example, predicted the U.S. would add a seasonally adjusted 121,000 jobs last month, with an unemployment rate of 8.5%.
Investors reacted positively. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA +1.13% jumped more than 130 points in Friday trades, putting the blue-chip benchmark within hailing distance of its 52-week high.
“It definitely was a big surprise,” said Jennifer Lee, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets. “The gains were broad based across all industries.”
The Obama administration, with an eye toward the presidential election in November, was also cheered by the news. A falling rate helps Obama’s chances of winning a second term.
Yet Republicans said the president’s policies are to blame for the slow recovery following the 2007-2009 recession. “We can do better,” said Mitt Romney, who looks likely to be Obama’s opponent in the fall. Read article on reaction to jobs.
Affected by revisions
As part of its report, the Labor Department also issued its annual “benchmark” changes to employment data over the past 21 months. The newly revised data show that the U.S. gained 1.82 million jobs in 2011, up from an initial estimate of 1.64 million.
In December, the increase in payrolls was revised up to 203,000 from an initial report of 200,000. And November payrolls were revised up to 157,000 from 100,000.
Some economists warn against reading too much into the January jobs report because of the benchmark changes, which revise population levels, the size of the labor force and other key data. The revisions go back five years in some cases.
They also point out that unseasonably warm weather may have boosted employment last month beyond the usual levels in industries such as construction. Construction firms added a combined 52,000 jobs in January and December.
“There are some caveats to what’s a pretty strong report,” said Sam Bullard, senior economist at Wells Fargo. “I am still cautious as to whether we have stepped up the level of hiring to the 200,000 to 250,000 range.”
Although hiring has accelerated since the end of last summer, the U.S. still has a long way to go to recoup all the jobs lost during the recession. The nation has 5.6 million fewer jobs now than it did four years ago.
As of last month, 12.76 million people were officially classified as unemployed, and 5.5 million have been without a job for more than six months. That was little changed from December.
Looked at another way, the unemployment rate is an even higher 15.1% if the data include people with part-time positions who cannot find full-time jobs as well as those who have recently given up looking for work. The so-called U6 rate fell from 15.2% in December.
The U.S. needs to add about 250,000 jobs a month for several years to bring the unemployment rate back down to pre-recession levels. The jobless rate ranged from 3.8% to 6.2% in the seven years prior to recession.
Inside the report
The private sector created all of the jobs last month, adding 257,000.
The biggest increase occurred in professional and business services: Companies in these fields hired a net 70,000 employees.
The manufacturing sector, meanwhile, boosted payrolls by 50,000. Manufacturers have led the U.S. recovery, bolstered by a weaker dollar and higher exports.
Leisure and hospitality companies, such as bars, restaurants and hotels, hired 44,000 workers last month. Health-care providers added 31,000 jobs and retail gained 11,000.
The only private industry to suffer sizable job losses was Hollywood. Employment fell by 8,000.
Government employment also declined once again, though at a slower pace. Some 14,000 jobs were eliminated, mainly at the local level. More than 600,000 government jobs have disappeared in the past few years.
Average hourly earnings, meanwhile, rose by 4 cents, or 0.2%, to $23.29 in January. That was in line with expectations.
The average workweek was unchanged at 34.5 hours.
Jeffry Bartash is a reporter for MarketWatch in Washington.
sources:http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-adds-243000-jobs-in-january-2012-02-03?pagenumber=2
ADP: 170,000 Private Sector Jobs Added in January
ADP: 170,000 Private Sector Jobs Added in January
ADP reported today that employment in the U.S. nonfarm private business sector increased by 170,000 from December to January on a seasonally adjusted basis.
ADP lowered its estimate of private sector jobs added in December from 325,000 to 292,000.
Employment in the private, service-providing sector rose 152,000 in January, and employment in the private, goods-producing sector increased 18,000 in January, while manufacturing employment increased 10,000.
U.S. Unemployment Rate Drops to 8.3%, 243,000 Jobs Added in January
The U.S. Department of Labor released its monthly jobs report data this morning that showed a better than expected growth in jobs added to the economy. Growth in the manufacturing sector was particularly impressive according to early analyses of the data released at 8:30 AM EST, fueling greater optimism in an improving economy. This news is bound to make the Obama administration smile, and the Republicans frown.
Stock markets were inching up in advance of the reports release, but are likely to be sparked by a much better than expected jobs situation. Yesterday’s release of a reduction in weekly unemployment claims filed and a four-week average that was also down, bolster investor optimism.
This report will be updated after further analysis of the employment data that was submitted to the DOL. As always, many companies and business organizations submit data that arrives late to the DOL, so there is always an adjustment to reported figures.
Sources and resources: U.S. Dept. of Labor, MSNBC, Fox News
sources:
pictures:The DOL's January Jobs Report showed job growth that was much better than expected in Jauary 2012 (+56%).
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