Payrolls Rise by 146,000 in January; Unemployment Rate Drops to 5.2%

mployers added 146,000 workers to payrolls in January and the nation’s unemployment rate dropped to 5.2%, the Labor Department reported Friday.

The rise in jobs coupled with revisions over the past five years brought the employment rate to the highest level since February 2001, Bloomberg reported.

Economists had forecast a 200,000 increase in payrolls and an unemployment rate of 5.4%, the same rate as December’s, Bloomberg said.

Since employment levels drive so much economic activity, an increase in employment can help consumer confidence and spending patterns, which affect trucking demand.

Manufacturing lost 25,000 jobs in January, reflecting in part more seasonal shutdowns than usual by automakers, Labor said.

The manufacturing workweek rose by six minutes to 40.7 hours and overtime rose slightly to 4.6 hours.

Construction jobs fell by 9,000 after a 14,000 rise in December, which Labor attributed in part to bad weather.

mployment in service-producing industries, which include retailers, banks and government agencies, rose 177,000 last month after a gain of 123,000 in December.

Retail employment grew by 19,200 in December, Labor said.