Labor Department: NY Only State To Report Higher Unemployment Rate In January

NEW YORK (AP) -- The Labor Department said Tuesday that only New York state reported a higher unemployment rate in January than the previous month.

Unemployment rates were unchanged in four states. That's better than December, when rates fell in 37 states, were unchanged in 10 and rose in three.

Nationwide, the unemployment rate fell to 8.3 percent in January from 8.5 percent in the previous month. Employers added 284,000 jobs, the second-highest total in six years.

Hiring has picked up as the economy has improved. Growth accelerated to a 3 percent annual pace in the final three months of last year. That's better than the 1.8 percent pace in the third quarter.

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