US employers add 113K jobs; rate dips to 6.6 pct.



By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON —

Hiring was surprisingly weak in January for a second straight month, likely renewing concern that the U.S. economy might be slowing after a strong finish last year.

Employers added 113,000 jobs, the government said Friday, far fewer than the average monthly gain of 194,000 last year. Job gains have averaged just 154,000 the past three months, down from 201,000 in the preceding three.

The sluggish job growth may reflect what investors and economists have begun to fear: That the U.S. job market is weakening again, along with sectors like manufacturing and retail sales in the United States and abroad. The weakness might also raise doubts about the Federal Reserve's plans to steadily reduce its economic stimulus this year.

Still, more people began looking for work in January, a sign that they were optimistic about finding work. Some of these people found jobs, thereby reducing the unemployment rate to 6.6 percent from 6.7 percent in December. That's the lowest rate since October 2008.

Soon after the report was released at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time, investors pulled back from stocks and shifted into safer U.S. bonds, sending bonds yields sharply lower. But then stock futures rose back above the levels where they had traded before the news. And the yield on the 10-year Treasury crept back toward its earlier level.

Cold weather likely held back hiring in December, economists said, though the impact faded in January. Construction firms, which sometimes stop work in bad weather, added 48,000 jobs last month.

[link to www.ajc.com]