U.S. jobless rate falls to 8.3% in January

U.S. unemployment rate fell to the lowest level in almost three years, according to the government’s employment report for January. The U.S. gained 243,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate dipped to 8.3% as nearly every sector of the economy added workers, the Labor Department said Friday.

The increase in hiring was the biggest since last April and shows further evidence that the economy continues to strengthen after a slowdown last summer. Hiring has also spread to most sectors of the economy. Jobs were added last month in manufacturing and construction, professional services, retail, health care, and food and restaurant establishments.

As part of its report, the Labor Department also issued its annual “benchmark” changes to employment data over the past 21 months. The newly revised data show that the U.S. gained 1.82 million jobs in 2011, up from an initial estimate of 1.64 million. In December, the increase in payrolls was revised up to 203,000 from an initial report of 200,000. And November payrolls were revised up to 157,000 from 100,000.

Although hiring has accelerated since the end of last summer, the U.S. still has a long way to go to recoup all the jobs lost during the recession. The nation has 5.6 million fewer jobs now than it did four years ago. As of last month, 12.76 million people were officially classified as unemployed, and 5.5 million have been without a job for more than six months. That was little changed from December.

Looked at another way, the unemployment rate is an even higher 15.1% if the data include people with part-time positions who cannot find full-time jobs as well as those who have recently given up looking for work. The so-called U6 rate fell from 15.2% in December.

The U.S. needs to add about 250,000 jobs a month for several years to bring the unemployment rate back down to pre-recession levels. The jobless rate ranged from 3.8% to 6.2% in the seven years prior to recession.

UPS Changes Pension-Plan Accounting

United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) has become the latest big U.S. company to change its pension accounting to a methodology considered more transparent but that can add volatility to corporate profits from year to year.

The shipping giant UPS said it will record an $827 million pretax charge for the fourth quarter as it changes to a mark-to-market system of accounting, in which it recognizes significant gains and losses in its pension plans on an annual basis instead of spreading the effect over time. It said the move has no impact on benefits paid to plan participants or its pension funding.

Fed keeps low rate to late 2014

The Federal Reserve pledged to hold interest rates low until late 2014. The Wednesday pledge is opening a new era of transparency,

The new commitment replaces the statement that economic conditions were likely to keep rates at the historic low range of 0% to 0.25% until at least mid-2013. The Fed made no policy steps, leaving the Fed’s key interest rate where it has been for three years.

In making the new projection, the central bank said the low rate of resource utilization and the subdued outlook for inflation over the medium term are likely to warrant the low rates for almost two more years.