Unemployment rate drops, lowest since April 2009

New job figures out today show unemployment rate at 8.9% with 192,000 new jobs created in February

By Adam Clark Estes

Published March 4, 2011 1:40PM (EST)

Participants wait in line at a Job Fair Thursday, Feb 24, 2011, sponsored by Best Jobs Magazine and the National Employment Council at Angels Stadium in Anaheim, Calif. The economy grew more slowly at the end of last year than first thought as state and local governments cut spending more deeply and Americans spent a tad less briskly.(AP Photo/Nick Ut) (AP)
Participants wait in line at a Job Fair Thursday, Feb 24, 2011, sponsored by Best Jobs Magazine and the National Employment Council at Angels Stadium in Anaheim, Calif. The economy grew more slowly at the end of last year than first thought as state and local governments cut spending more deeply and Americans spent a tad less briskly.(AP Photo/Nick Ut) (AP)

The unemployment rate fell for the third month straight and hit a two-year low, landing below 9% for the first time in months. With 192,000 new jobs created, the new Labor Department numbers fell just shy of economists' projection of 218,000 jobs created.


Read more about unemployment at the Wall Street Journal


By Adam Clark Estes

Adam Clark Estes blogs the news for Salon. Email him at ace@salon.com and follow him on Twitter @adamclarkestes

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