Slight relief on jobs

A very mixed bag - and very reflective of the transitional period that the economy still faces. The U.S. unemployment rate for January actually fell to 9.7 percent from 10 percent the month before, and the economy shed 20,000 jobs during the month, with several sectors actually showing gains. Some economists had expected a gain in jobs. Adding to the stew were revisions from previous months, with 150,000 jobs lost in December, much worse than the 85,000 first reported, and November showing a 64,000 gain instead of 4,000. (NYT, Bloomberg)