Unemployment Rate Dropped To 9.7 Percent In January

Friday, February 5, 2010 at 9:07AM
Justin Duckham in Frontpage 1, News/Commentary, department of labor, unemployment rate

The unemployment rate in January dropped slightly to 9.7 percent, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. The unemployment rate in November and December was reported as 10 percent.

According to the newly released data, jobs were gained in temporary help services, retail and the health care industry. The federal government provided 33,000 jobs. This includes 9,000 temporary positions for census workers.

Job losses were felt in the construction, transportation and warehousing industries.

“We are making progress, but the road to recovery will be long, and will not be easy,” said Joint Economic Committee Chairman Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY) during a hearing Friday morning.

In January, 14.8 million Americans were unemployed, a drop from 15.4 million the previous month.


TRNS Reporter Brishel Prichard contributed to this story

Article originally appeared on Talk Radio News Service: News, Politics, Media (http://www.talkradionews.com/).