WASHINGTON - Nonfarm U.S. payrolls increased by a disappointing 36,000 in January as the unemployment rate dropped to 9.0%, the lowest level since April 2009, and severe winter weather affected employment in some sectors, the Labor Department reported Friday.
Private payrolls added 50,000 workers for the month, following gains of 139,000 and 128,000 in December and November respectively.
The annual nonfarm benchmark revision for 2010 revised lower by 411,000 the number of nonfarm payrolls previously reported.
The winter storms across the country in January may have impacted employment and wages, specifically in the construction sector, the Labor Department said. Construction payrolls shed 32,000 jobs for the month, the largest decline since May. While some people may have lost work because of the snow storms, others who deal with clean-up or repairs may have been added to payrolls, the Labor Department said.
Payrolls in the transportation and warehousing sector fell by the largest amount in a year. Manufacturing payrolls added 49,000.
Economists expected an increase of 146,000 in total payrolls and 155,000 in private payrolls, according to the median estimate from Thomson Reuters. Economists said the unemployment rate would increase to 9.5%.
Government payrolls shed 14,000 workers, the third straight monthly decline. State and local payrolls declined by 12,000.
The average hourly earnings for all workers increased by 8 cents, or 0.4%, to $22.86. Over the last 12 months, hourly earnings increased by 1.9%.
The average workweek for all employees dipped by six minutes to 34.2 hours.
Economists expected earnings would increase by 0.2% and the workweek would be 34.3 hours, according to the Thomson Reuters estimate.
