Unemployment drops to 9 percent

The unemployment rate has fallen to 9 percent in the month of January. This is the lowest the rate of unemployment has been in 21 months. Over half a million people have found work since then. However in the last month, harsh snow storms have had an impact on employment in certain industries like construction, transportation, and warehousing where thousands of jobs were reportedly lost. On the bright side of things, private analysts have projected employers to add almost 150,000 jobs.

Other good news announces that the unemployment rate has decreased eight-tenths of a percent in the previous two months which is the steepest it has dropped in 53 years. However the government does not recognize persons who stop looking for jobs to be unemployed, only the ones who are looking for employment are considered in this calculation. Though all of this economic data provides excitement and encouragement, White House economic adviser Austin Goolsbee says "there is still considerable work to do".

It is exciting to hear good news about the job market especially in todays economy. Being a college student and knowing how competitive the job market is as we are looking for future employment; it is unsettling to know how many people are unemployed. But with the statistics shown in this article, it provides some hope for us to believe that more and more jobs will be created over time.

http://www.npr.org/2011/02/04/133492142/unemployment-drops-to-9-0-percent-in-january