US adds 143,000 jobs in January, 169,000 less than estimates

By Mucahithan Avcioglu

ISTANBUL (AA) - The US economy added 143,000 jobs in January, much less than market estimates, the Labor Department said on Friday.

The market expectation for nonfarm payrolls was to show a gain of 169,000 last month.

Job additions for December, on the other hand, were revised up by 51,000, from 256,000 to 307,000.

The unemployment rate, meanwhile, fell to 4% in January from 4.1% in December.

The market estimate for the figure was to come in at 4.1%.

The number of unemployed people stood at 6.8 million in January, while the labor force participation rate was at 62.6%, according to the Labor Department.