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Unemployment rate lowest since 2001

Employers add 193,000 jobs in January, wages rise, unemployment dips to 4.7 percent.

February 3, 2006: 9:07 AM EST


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - The unemployment rate fell to its lowest level in nearly five years in January, the government reported Friday, as employers added a respectable 193,000 jobs to payrolls.

The Labor Department said the unemployment rate dipped to 4.7 percent from 4.9 in December, the lowest since 4.6 percent in July 2001, just before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Economists had forecast that the rate would remain unchanged from December.


The drop in unemployment was the latest sign of a tightening labor market, which could put upward pressure on wages and prices in the months ahead.

On Wall Street, stock futures retreated and Treasury bond prices fell, raising long-term yields, on the expectation that the report makes further interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve more likely.

The department said average hourly wage rose 7 cents to $16.41, a 0.4 percent increase that was slightly more than the 0.3 percent gain forecast by economists. Over the last 12 months, average wages are up 3.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis, the biggest 12-month change in nearly three years.

In the part of the report that normally gets the most attention, U.S. employers added 193,000 jobs to payrolls in January, up from a revised 140,000 gain in December. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast a gain of 250,000 for January.

But the unemployment rate and wage increase seemed to be getting most of investors' attention on Wall Street.