|
|
|||
|
|||
|
|
Unemployment Rate Drops to 5.6 Percent; 112,000 Jobs Added NewsMax.com WiresWASHINGTON – The nation's unemployment rate dropped to 5.6 percent in January to the lowest level in more than two years as companies added 112,000 jobs, providing fresh signs the prolonged hiring slump may be ending. The jobless rate fell 0.1 percentage point last month to the lowest level since October 2001, when it was 5.4 percent, the Labor Department said Friday. January's rate matched the 5.6 percent posted in January 2002. Employers added jobs last month at a pace not seen in three years. The last time payrolls expanded more than 112,000 was in December 2000, when companies added 124,000 positions. January's hiring gains marked the fifth straight month of increases, and followed a revised 16,000 new jobs added in December, better than the 1,000 initially reported. Hiring by retailers and construction companies accounted for much of the overall increase in payrolls. However, the nation's factories continued shedding jobs, though at a slower pace than in previous months. The report provided hope that the economic recovery was finally reaching the labor market. But economists still had concerns. They had predicted payrolls to jump by 150,000 or more last month.
© 2003 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Editor's note: Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics: |
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
| All Rights Reserved © 2009 NewsMax.Com |