Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


                             US Job Market Improves

   by VOA News

   The U.S. economy had a net gain of 257,000 jobs in January, making it
   more likely the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates by mid-year.

   Friday's report from the Labor Department also says the unemployment
   rate rose a slight one-tenth of a percentage point to 5.7 percent.

   Experts say the jobless rate rose, though, because many people who had
   given up efforts to find work resumed their search for jobs. Washington
   does not count people as officially unemployed unless they have
   actively sought work in the past month.

   Officials routinely revise employment figures as more complete data
   becomes available, and they significantly raised the job creation
   numbers for December and November.

   While the net gain in jobs was stronger than many investors expected,
   there still are 9 million Americans out of work, and a bit less than
   one-third of them have been jobless for more than 27 weeks. Another 6.8
   million people want to get full time work but can find only part-time
   employment.

   Investors are watching unemployment data closely because the Federal
   Reserve regards the health of the job market as a key factor in its
   efforts to manage the economy. Many analysts say Friday's mostly upbeat
   job report makes it more likely the Fed will raise interest rates in
   the middle of this year.
   The Fed had cut interest rates to ultra-low levels during the recession
   in an effort to boost growth. Some economists say a stronger job market
   is a key sign such help can be gradually reduced.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/us-job-market-improves/2632219.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/us-job-market-improves/2632219.html