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In a report released Friday morning by the ""Bureau of Labor Statistics"":http://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/empsit_02032012.pdf that could be described only as the Republicans' worst nightmare, the economy added 243,000 jobs in January â€" the strongest month-to-month gain since last March â€" as the unemployment rate fell to 8.3 percent.
[IMAGE]The unemployment rate, the number of people employed, and the number unemployed were at their best levels since President Obama took office in January 2009. Economists had anticipated about 155,000 new jobs in January.
At the same time, the report was not without some cautionary, yellow flags: the number of individuals ""not in the labor force"" â€" that is neither employed nor looking for work â€" increased in January, the number of re-entrants to the labor force declined, and the number of part time workers increased.
In addition, while the number of people unemployed for 27 weeks or longer (long-term unemployed) fell in January,
[COLUMN_BREAK]the number of long-term unemployed as a percentage of unemployment rose.
According to the payroll survey which tallies jobs by industry sectors and components, jobs increased in just about every major category.
The exceptions were the information sector which shed about 13,000 jobs â€" out of about 2.6 million jobs â€" and the financial sector which contracted by about 5,000 jobs out of 7.7 million. Within the financial sector, there were 5,200 fewer credit jobs in January than in December.
Government payrolls declined with local governments accounting for 11,000 of the drop of 14,000 government jobs.
There were, though, outsized gains in the construction sector which added 21,000 jobs including 2,500 residential construction jobs and another 4,300 ""residential specialty trade contractor"" positions.
The 243,000 month-to-month gain in jobs overall compares with a population jump of 1.7 million (reflecting both growth and statistical adjustments) of those over 16, which means the increase in jobs fell far short of keeping up with population growth.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the average workweek (in hours) was unchanged from December â€" and still remains below the workweek when the recession began in December 2007 â€" though average hourly earnings rose.
Taken together â€" including the increase in jobs â€" the report indicated aggregate earnings improved which could give a boost to the overall economy by increasing disposable income and thus resources for spending.
