Unemployment rate falls to 9.7 percent
Published: February 8, 2010
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The unemployment rate fell in January to 9.7 percent from 10 percent in December, the Labor Department said Feb. 5. Nonfarm payrolls contracted by 20,000 in January. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected a 25,000 gain in payrolls and had been looking for the unemployment rate to remain steady at 10.0 percent. Under revisions released Feb. 5, job losses since the start of the recession in December 2007 totaled 8.4 million, in line with expectations.
