NEWS FLASH
BREAKING: 243,000 Jobs Created Last Month, Unemployment Rate Falls To 8.3 Percent | According to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the economy created 243,000 jobs in January, and the unemployment rate fell to 8.3 percent. Analysts had expected about 140,000 jobs. The private sector created 257,000 jobs. “The jump in employment was broad-based, including manufacturing, construction, temporary help agencies, accounting firms, restaurants and retailers.” The number of jobs created for both November (+57K jobs) and December (+3K jobs) were revised upwards.
Update
David Madland, the director of the American Worker Project at the Center for American Progress, issued this statement:
The evidence clearly shows that the nation’s economy is on the right course. The recovery plan the Obama administration installed from the day it took office has now produced 23 straight months of private-sector job growth. But we cannot afford to be complacent, and we cannot turn back to the policies that got us into this mess. Even our modest momentum could be lost if government policies go in the wrong direction or Europe’s financial problems spill over to the United States. As a first step, policymakers should ensure we keep the recovery we have by passing a full-year extension of unemployment benefits and the payroll tax cut. To sustain economic growth will require concerted efforts to rebuild the middle class, who are the real drivers of economic growth.
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