— The U.S. economy added a paltry 36,000 jobs in January, the
government said Friday. Bad weather likely contributed to the
weaker-than-expected hiring, but the report also suggests that many
employers remain reluctant to hire despite a strengthening economic
recovery.
Even so, the nation’s unemployment rate fell
dramatically for the second month in a row. It dropped to 9 percent in
January, from 9.4 percent in December and 9.8 percent in November.
But as in December, the official unemployment rate
dropped in part because many more workers left the labor market — an
indication that many people aren’t finding opportunities or don’t
believe there’s a job for them in the current economy.
“A chilling start to 2011,” declared the Conference
Board’s chief economist, Bart van Ark. “The U.S. labor market remains
unable to catch the recovery momentum of the broader economy.”
There were some positive signs in Friday’s report from the
Manufacturing payrolls were up 49,000 over the month, and retail
employers added 27,500 jobs. Construction, government, financial
services, transportation and the temporary-help sector shed jobs in
January.
Government officials also revised higher the job
growth at the end of last year. And that shows an improving trend in
hiring, although still not at a very rapid pace. In the fourth quarter,
the private sector added an average of 153,000 jobs a month, up from
124,000 in the third quarter.
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(c) 2011, Tribune Co.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
