For the fifth consecutive month, the U.S. unemployment rate fell, reaching its lowest level since February 2009 at 8.3 percent, according to the recently released monthly jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 243,000 in January, substantially more than most analysts had anticipated. Construction, healthcare, manufacturing, leisure and hospitality and professional and business services were the industries that led the way in job growth last month.
“The national unemployment rate has fallen by 0.8 percent in the last five months,” Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis said in a statement following the release of the report. “The drop in unemployment has been driven by employment gains, not workers leaving the labor force.”
In Arizona, where the unemployment rate stood at 8.7 percent in December, a number of companies have recently announced plans to either relocate to or expand in the state. One example of this is technology company CallSource Inc., which tracks specific trends at apartment communities. The firm recently announced plans to add 40 Scottsdale jobs as part of a relocation from California, according to the Phoenix Business Journal.
