Unemployment report: 243,000 jobs added, jobless rate falls to 8.3% - lowest in three years
Job seekers finally seem to be getting a break.
The number of jobs on American payrolls rocketed past economists’ expectations in January, posting its biggest gain in nine months and helping the unemployment rate post a surprise drop to its lowest level in about three years.
The Labor Department reported that payrolls rose by 243,000, and the jobless rate dropped to 8.3%, a level unseen since February 2009.
“It’s unambiguously good news,” John Ryding, chief economist at RDQ Economics told the Daily News. “It’s another piece of evidence that the economy was growing faster in the end of 2011 and beginning of 2012 than it was for much of last year, and the trend is continuing.”
Economists had expected payrolls to rise just 150,000 as a boost from temporary holiday hiring in the prior month faded, with unemployment remaining steady at 8.5%.
Revisions to November and December added an additional 60,000 jobs.
Recent data has indicated the economy is growing – if tentatively.
Earlier this week, the government reported that Americans’ income rose by the most in nine months in December, although spending was flat.
Hiring and wage gains are needed to spur consumer spending, which powers more than two-thirds of U.S. economic growth.
The economy picked up steam in the final three months of 2011, although some economists expect it to slow early this year.
elazarowitz@nydailynews.com
With News Wire Services
Job seekers finally seem to be getting a break.

The number of jobs on American payrolls rocketed past economists’ expectations in January, posting its biggest gain in nine months and helping the unemployment rate post a surprise drop to its lowest level in about three years.
The Labor Department reported that payrolls rose by 243,000, and the jobless rate dropped to 8.3%, a level unseen since February 2009.
“It’s unambiguously good news,” John Ryding, chief economist at RDQ Economics told the Daily News. “It’s another piece of evidence that the economy was growing faster in the end of 2011 and beginning of 2012 than it was for much of last year, and the trend is continuing.”
Economists had expected payrolls to rise just 150,000 as a boost from temporary holiday hiring in the prior month faded, with unemployment remaining steady at 8.5%.
Revisions to November and December added an additional 60,000 jobs.
Recent data has indicated the economy is growing – if tentatively.
Earlier this week, the government reported that Americans’ income rose by the most in nine months in December, although spending was flat.
Hiring and wage gains are needed to spur consumer spending, which powers more than two-thirds of U.S. economic growth.
The economy picked up steam in the final three months of 2011, although some economists expect it to slow early this year.
elazarowitz@nydailynews.com
With News Wire Services
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/mon...pected-bright-article-1.1016500#ixzz1lQ6t1QiD<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" id="video" width="320" height="280" data="http://www.abcactionnews.com/video/videoplayer.swf?dppversion=16926"><param value="http://www.abcactionnews.com/video/videoplayer.swf?dppversion=16926" name="movie"/><param value="&skin=MP1ExternalAll-MFL.swf&embed=true&adSizeArray=1x1000,320x40,3x1000&adSrc=http%3A%2F%2Fad%2Edoubleclick%2Enet%2Fpfadx%2Fssp%2Ewfts%2Fmoney%2Fbusiness%5Fnews%2Fdetail%3Bdcmt%3Dtext%2Fxml%3Bsz%3D%25size%25%3Bpos%3D%25pos%25%3Bloc%3D%25loc%25%3Bcomp%3D%25adid%25%3Btile%3D3%3Bfname%3DUnemployment%2Drate%2Dfalls%2Das%2Deconomy%2Dadds%2D200K%2Djobs%3Bord%3D594813326786899300%3Frand%3D%25rand%25&flv=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eabcactionnews%2Ecom%2Ffeeds%2FoutboundFeed%3FobfType%3DVIDEO%5FPLAYER%5FSMIL%5FFEED%26componentId%3D188661157&img=http%3A%2F%2Fmedia2%2Eabcactionnews%2Ecom%2F%2Fphoto%2F2012%2F01%2F06%2FUnemployment%5Frate%5Ffalldeda8827%2D3a89%2D46e6%2D8a22%2Daa5319e1e1cb0000%5F20120106191704%5F640%5F480%2EJPG&story=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eabcactionnews%2Ecom%2Fdpp%2Fmoney%2Fbusiness%5Fnews%2FUnemployment%2Drate%2Dfalls%2Das%2Deconomy%2Dadds%2D200K%2Djobs&category=personal%5Ffinance&title=Unemployment%20rate%20falls%20to%208%2E5%25%20as%20economy%20adds%20200K%20jobs&oacct=&ovns=" name="FlashVars"/><param value="all" name="allowNetworking"/><param value="always" name="allowScriptAccess"/></object>