U.S. payrolls barely grow, but jobless rate plummets

(Reuters) - U.S. employment rose by a meager 36,000 jobs in January, far less than expected, as severe snow storms slammed large parts of the nation, but the unemployment rate fell to its lowest level since April 2009.

Despite the conflicting signals in the Labor Department’s report on Friday, economists agreed a recovery in the labor market was proceeding apace if not gaining speed. Many investors also saw the data as a sign of strength. Government bonds sold off and the dollar rallied against the yen and the euro.

The payrolls gain reported by U.S. employers was a quarter of the 145,000 gain economists had expected. But a separate household survey, which is used to determine the jobless rate, showed nearly 600,000 more people reported they were employed.

That surge in employment pushed the unemployment rate to 9 percent from 9.4 percent in December. The rate has dropped 0.8 percentage point since November, the biggest two-month decline since 1958.

“Looking at the two surveys together, they suggest that employment is going to pick up. Clearly it has lagged the other measures of activity, but we’re in a jobs market recovery now,” said Zach Pandl, U.S. economist at Nomura Securities International in New York.

Economists estimate the blizzard, which pounded the Northeast in January and buried cities in knee-deep snow, reduced payrolls by between 50,000 and 75,000.

The government also revised November and December payrolls to show 40,000 more jobs created than previously estimated.

OUTLOOK IMPROVING

Data on manufacturing and retail sales has suggested the economy’s strong momentum continued into the new year.

Economists said January’s employment report, excluding the weather effect, was consistent with the economy growing above 3 percent. The labor market has lagged the broader economy, which grew at a 3.2 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter.

“We see significant potential strength in this report and will be looking to see whether the drop in the unemployment rate persists,” said Michael Gapen, an economist a Barclays Capital in New York.