US unemployment rate drops to 6.3%; 49,000 jobs added in January: Govt

The US Labor Department on Friday informed that the unemployment rate in the country has dropped to 6.3% in January from 6.7% in December, reported AFP. 

The department, however, said that economy added only 49,000 jobs as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to hinder business in the US.

The decrease in the unemployment rate continued the revival that began after it spiked to 14.7% last April after many businesses in the world’s largest economy were shut down suddenly to stop the spread of COVID-19 infections.

Also read: For third successive week, new applications for jobless benefits decline in US

Although, the US government has noted that continued job losses in sectors like leisure and hospitality, retail trade, health care and transportation undermined the January employment increase.

The January data includes evidence of continued high unemployment and the Labor Department said the workforce is overall 6.5% smaller or 9.9 million positions below where it was in February 2020 before the pandemic.

President Joe Biden has proposed another $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package and the Congress has passed trillions of dollars in stimulus spending since the pandemic struck to keep the world’s largest economy sailing and expand its unemployment safety net.