WH: Today’s employment report shows that the unemployment rate fell sharply to 9.0 percent and private sector payrolls increased by 50,000 in January. Revisions to private sector payroll data show that 1.1 million jobs were added during 2010, the strongest private sector job growth since 2006. The 0.8 percentage point decline in the unemployment rate over the past two months is a welcome development; however, the rate remains unacceptably high.
More here
Reuters: 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 …. a 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.
…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.
“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. “If it does, then it will be a further signal that underlying job growth is stronger than reported and conditions in labor markets are better than advertised by the establishment survey.”
Last month’s drop in the unemployment rate was encouraging because it reflected more people finding work, even after adjustments for updated population controls.
More here
The Obama Diary 
SLOWLY BUT SURELY…WE’RE CLIMBING THAT LADDER. THE PRESIDENT IS DOING A GREAT JOB…WHAT WE NEED HERE IS REPUBLICAN COOPERATION WITH HIS INVESTMENT IDEAS! IF HE HADN’T INVESTED IN THE ECONOMY DURING THE INITIAL CRISIS…WE WOULD BE LOOKING UP FOR A LIFE PRESERVER FROM A LOWER STATUS…SIMILAR TO PLANT LIFE! GO OBAMA 2012!
Hey Chipsticks,
The PLeft Economic blogs tell me there is “nothing good” abt this report; also2, “stimulus should have been bigger” for the eleventy-gazillionith time! David Leonhardt at NYT is a reasonable leftie econ guy & he basically said it’s confusing because the “jobs created” number was lower than expected compared to other good numbers they had received earlier & more info needed…..my conclusion is that I still hate economics as much as I did when I took Econ 101.
OMG. I am so sick of “those” people. I am sure they were quoting Freddie Krugman! They were talking about the discrepancy on BWD. I am not very enlightened on such matters, but discovered a couple of sources that explained the drop.
“Friday’s report offered a conflicting picture on hiring. Unemployment fell because the Labor Department’s household survey determined that more than a half-million people without jobs found work. The department conducts a separate survey of businesses, which showed tepid job creation. The two surveys sometimes diverge.”
Another from AP- More than a half-million people without jobs found work.
So things are not great, but they are certainly moving in the right direction. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.
After all Chris Matthews say, unless the unemployment rate gets down to 8%, the president will not be reelected.
Of course he has been saying this for the past two years.
I am going with Halperin again. NO one at this time can touch Obama. GOBAMA!
Yeah….that brings back feelings of the enormous frustration I experienced in college with Econ. The harder I worked at it the more I didn’t get it. So I will rely on my trust in our President and his Administration, who I know are fighting tooth and nail for not only recovery but prosperity, in the interest of ALL AMERICANS, not just the privileged few.
Well, at least you were willing to try it, and I am sure you did not fail. Was it required for your major? I would never take econ. I do well in social sciences, history, lit, and art, but I am miserable failure when it comes to mathematics in any form. And, I do mean miserable. I had to take algebra to graduate. It was the weed out class. I worked 20 a week just to get a C.