Jobs Data Show Sustained Growth

February 3, 2012

Wall Street Journal

By JOSH MITCHELL And JEFFREY SPARSHOTT

WASHINGTON—The U.S. labor market grew in January at its most robust pace since last spring, a sign that the economy's momentum carried into the new year.

Nonfarm payrolls rose by 243,000 last month, the Labor Department said Friday, marking the biggest gain since April. The jobless rate fell by two-tenths of a point to 8.3%, the lowest it has been since February 2009.

Both figures contradicted expectations of a slowdown in job growth to start the year. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast a gain of 125,000 in payrolls and that the jobless rate would remain at 8.5%.

The report also indicated that job growth was stronger in previous months than initially reported, with the economy gaining 60,000 jobs beyond the government's preliminary figures for November and December.

The latest drop in the jobless rate, which is obtained from a separate household survey was largely because of genuine job growth rather than a reduction in the labor force, the report showed. The number of unemployed people fell to 12.8 million, a three-year low, and the jobless rate has fallen from 9.1% since August.

The recent gains in the labor market reflect increasing confidence among private companies, which again fueled the job growth. The private sector added 257,000 jobs, offsetting the 14,000 in job cuts by the public sector—namely, federal and local governments.

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