The United States economy gained momentum in January, adding 243,000 jobs, the second straight month of better-than-expected gains.
The unemployment rate fell to 8.3 percent, giving a cause for optimism as the economy shapes up as the central issue in the presidential election. The Labor Department’s monthly snapshot of the jobs market uses a different survey, of households rather than employers, to calculate the unemployment rate.
Measured by both the unemployment rate and the number of jobless — which fell to 12,758,000 — it was the strongest signal yet that an economic recovery was spreading to the jobs market. The last time the figures were as good was February 2009, President Obama’s first full month in office.
The report sent stock-index futures up sharply on Wall Street before the opening bell.
The department also revised its estimate for new jobs in December slightly, to 203,000. It had reported a net gain of 200,000 jobs in December.
The private sector remained the engine of new job gains. While federal agencies and local governments continued to lay off workers, private-sector employers added 257,000 jobs in January. The industries with the biggest gains were manufacturing, professional and business services, and leisure and hospitality.
