Unemployment ticks down to 8.3 percent

WASHINGTON, Feb. 3 (UPI) -- The U.S. economy added 243,000 jobs in January, which pushed the unemployment rate down to 8.3 percent, the Labor Department said Friday.

The jobless rate is at its lowest level in three years, since February of 2009.

The rate fell from 8.5 percent in December and from 10 percent a year earlier.

January tacked on the most jobs since April.

President Obama, speaking in Arlington, Va., welcomed the news but said more must be done.

"Now, these numbers will go up and down in the coming months, and there's still far too many Americans who need a job, or need a job that pays better than the one they have now," Obama said. "But the economy is growing stronger. The recovery is speeding up. And we've got to do everything in our power to keep it going."

He said the country "can't let Washington stand in the way of our recovery."

As he has in recent speeches, Obama urged Congress to extend the payroll tax cut through the end of the year.

"They need to pass an extension of the payroll tax cut and unemployment insurance -- and do it without drama, without delay, without linking it to some ideological side issues," Obama said.

The recent gains will have economic predictions going north and south. Some will view the gains made since October as sustainable while others will conclude they mirror the pattern of 2011, when early advances flattened out during the middle months.

Since August, the unemployment rate has dropped 0.8 percentage points. In the most recent report, the department said, the number of unemployed declined to 12.8 million.

While the unemployment rate is considered a cornerstone piece of the economic puzzle, the numbers are not wholly reflective of the economic picture because of the millions who have stopped looking for work and been removed from the statistics pool.

Economists also worry that 40 percent of the unemployed, or 5.5 million, are listed as jobless for 27 weeks or more. The department said that figure was "little changed" in January.

The number of those counted as "marginally attached to the labor force" in the past 12 months was also "essentially unchanged," the department said.

This is a group that has not looked for work in the past four weeks, but did look for work within the past 12 months. They are not counted in the overall index but, nevertheless "wanted and were available for work," the department said.