U.S. Jobless Rate Down to 4.7 Percent in January

U.S. jobless rate down to 4.7 percent in January

WASHINGTON, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) — The unemployment rate in the United States declined to 4.7 percent January, the lowest level since July 2001, the Labor Department reported on Friday.

The report showed that U.S. employers added payrolls by 193,000 in the month, the biggest increase since last November. But the increase still fell short of the 250,000 new jobs that some economists had expected.

The U.S. unemployment rate dropped from 4.9 percent in December.

U.S. job gains in January were fairly broad based, with employment growing in construction, manufacturing, professional and business services and education and health care. Those employment gains blunted job losses in retailing and government.

The U.S. jobless rate had hit 6.4 percent in the mid 2003 and has been declining steadily in the past two and an half years.