January Jobs Report---Unemployment drops to 9.7%

CNBC reports in this 10 minute video clip the January, 2010 jobs report. The Unemployment rate is at 9.7%. The unemployment declined because of the benchmark revisions and because more people were finding work.

Annual benchmark revisions show 8.4 million jobs lost since the start of the recession versus 7.2 million prior to the revision.

Rick Santelli commented that,the benchmark revision was in the realm of expectations, and he wants to know how much the labor force shrank / (grew) in the period.

The average work week was higher at 33.3 hours per week versus 33.2 hours per week prior to the report.

Temporary jobs continue to increase, but construction jobs continue to decline.

In February and March, government employment is expected to increase as the census starts its 2010 hiring spree.

Mark Zandi views the decline in unemployment rate confusing, because payroll employment continues to shrink (ADP data), so how could unemployment be improving?

In order to stabilize employment, analysts say 125,000 jobs per month need to be created---However, this past month 20,000 jobs were still destroyed. While the trend is still improving, things aren't fully positive yet.