Jobless Rate Dipped to 5.6% in January

The U.S. unemployment rate fell to 5.6% from 5.8% in January as the economy lost the fewest jobs in five months, the Labor Department said Friday.

Since employment levels drive so much economic activity, an improvement in the job market can bolster consumer confidence and spending patterns, which affect trucking demand.

Payrolls outside the farm sector fell by 89,000 last month after falling by 130,000 in December and 355,000 in November. Although payrolls fell more than the 50,000 expected by analysts, Bloomberg said, the same analysts were expecting the jobless rate to increase to 5.9%

Labor cautioned against reading too much into this one report, because January tends to reflect large seasonal movements after the holidays, the Associated Press reported.

Some analysts believe that the jobless rate could rise to 6.5%, even as a potential recovery begins. The reason is that the level of job growth in the early stages of the recovery is not expected to be enough to accommodate new workers as they enter the job market.

Factories lost 89,000 jobs in January, the fewest since September, Labor said. Retailers created 62,000 jobs in January, the most since April, and service-producing companies also began adding workers again. Construction jobs declined as an unusually warm December gave way to a more winter-like January for much of the country.

Manufacturing overtime rose to 3.9 hours in January, the second straight increase, from 3.8 hours in December. Overtime typically rises before companies start hiring more workers, Bloomberg said.

At the same time, however, the average weekly hours worked fell to 34 in January from 34.1 in December.

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