U.S. Employment Climbs Less Than Expected In January

(RTTNews) - Employment in the U.S. rose by less than expected in the month of January, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Friday, although the unemployment rate still edged lower.

The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment climbed by 151,000 jobs in January compared to economist estimates for an increase of about 188,000 jobs.

While the report also said the jump in employment in December was downwardly revised to 262,000 jobs from 292,000 jobs, the increase in employment in November was upwardly revised to 280,000 jobs from 252,000 jobs.

With the combined revisions, job growth in November and December was only 2,000 jobs lower than previously reported.

The Labor Department also said the unemployment rate edged down to 4.9 percent in January from 5.0 percent in December, while economists had expected the rate to come in unchanged.

The unexpected decrease pulled the unemployment rate down to its lowest level since a matching rate in February of 2008.