Unemployment Rate Virtually Unchanged for U.S., Blacks

First jobs report of the New Year shows employers added 157,000 jobs

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday said the national unemployment rate was mostly unchanged at 7.9 percent in January. The rate was reported at 7.8 percent in December. The unemployment rate for blacks remained high at 13.8, a slight tick down from 14 percent in December. The rate for Hispanics (9.7 percent) and whites (7.0 percent)  showed little movement for a third straight month. Employers added 157,000 jobs in Janaury. That's slightly less than the 161,000 predicted. A total of 12.3 million Americans were unemployed in January. The number of long-term unemployed – people who had been jobless for more than 27 weeks – was 4.7 million last month.

[SUBSCRIBE TO LOOP 21 RSS FEED]