Jobless Rate Hits 15-Year Low of 3.5%: Unemployment Hits a 15-Year Low
The NationÛªs total employment hit a record January high of 73.3 million last month and the unemployment rate dropped to a 15-ycar low of 3.5 per cent, the Labor Department said yesterday.</br></br>The number of jobs increased in manufacturing, trade and various service industries on a seasonally adjusted basis, said the Bureau of Labor Statistics.</br></br>The Bureau adjusts the.employment figures on the basis of usually expected seasonal trends, and the unexpectedly large number of women dropping out of the labor forceÛÓ and, therefore, no longer considered as job seekersÛÓaccounted for most of the dip in the jobless rate.</br></br>ÛÏIt was apparently because of a decline in retail trade after Christmas," said Arthur M. Ross, Commissioner of the Bureau. He referred to the withdrawal of some 880,000 women from the work force.</br></br>counted for about half of the[rose by 35,000, but would have the last year, average weekly costs showed that the earnings 1.7	million deline in the laborj been greater except for a earnings were up $3.70.	gain	was more than wiped out