Unemployment Rate Drops to 9%

The U.S. unemployment rate fell sharply to 9 percent in January from 9.4 percent in December, as more than 620,000 previously jobless people found work, the Labor Department said Friday. There was a net gain of 36,000 jobs — the lowest level in four months — but economists blamed bad weather for the weak number.

The number of self-employed rose by 165,000 to 9.7 million, the highest total since last May. The construction industry lost 32,000 jobs, and in the transportation and warehousing industry, courier and messenger jobs dropped by 45,000 over the month. Manufacturing added 49,000 jobs and retail trade jobs grew by 28,000.

The unemployment rate has fallen by eight-tenths of a percentage point in the past two months. That is the steepest two-month drop in nearly 53 years. But part of the decline occurred as many of those out of work gave up on their job searches. That number rose to 2.8 million last month from 2.6 million in December.

The number of long-termed unemployed — people out of work for 27 weeks or more — fell to 6.2 million from 6.4 million, but that group accounted for 43.8 percent of the jobless. Employment is stronger but those gains are not enough to bring back the swollen ranks of workers who have been unemployed for a very long time.

Among whites, the unemployment rate fell to 8 percent from 8.5 percent in December, and among blacks, it dipped to 15.7 percent from 15.8 percent. The rate among Hispanics dropped to 11.9 percent from 13 percent, and among Asians, the rate fell to 6.9 percent from 7.2 percent.