US adds 227,000 jobs in January

The U.S. economy added 227,000 jobs in January, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report, well ahead of December’s gain of 157,000 jobs.

The increase surpassed the expectations of economists surveyed by Bloomberg, who had forecast an increase of 175,000 in nonfarm payrolls, roughly in line with gains in the previous year.

The U.S. unemployment rate was at 4.8 percent in January, little changed from the 4.7 percent in December, and the number of unemployed persons in the United States was at 7.6 million, a slight increase from the 7.5 million in December.

In January, the number of long-term unemployed was essentially unchanged at 1.9 million and accounted for 24.4 percent of the unemployed. Year-over-year, the number of long-term unemployed has declined by 244,000.

The retail, construction and financial industries