Employment News

Good Sign? Unemployment Rate Drops to 9.7%

Feb 5, 2010 (ABC News) The nation's employers reduced their payrolls by 20,000 during January, a government report showed, generating fresh anxiety about a labor market that has yet to catch up with growth in the overall economy.   The reduction was slightly worse than the 15,000 jobs economists were expecting. The nation's unemployment rate -- the result of a separate but simultaneously released survey of households -- dropped to 9.7 percent from the 10-percent level of a month ago, according to the U.S. Labor Department.  The economy lost 85,000 jobs in December after gaining 4,000 in November and losing 127,000 in October.

For an interactive map of unemployment in your county, click here.

The Labor Department today also issued the annual benchmark update showing the economy lost 930,000 more jobs than previously estimated in the 12 months ended March 2009. This means the total job losses during the recession were worse than previously thought: 8.4 million jobs lost versus 7.2 million.

"This report shows how slow the job market is to recover, as other sectors of the economy show improvement," ABC News business correspondent Betsy Stark said. "Yes, things are moving in the right direction but at a snail's pace."