February 11, 2005 5:08 PM

Jobless rate falls to 5.2 %
Posted by Douglas Eisenhartat 5:08 PM

The latest unemployment stats, reported last week from the Labor Department:

The Labor Department reported. . .that employers added just 146,000 jobs last month, slightly fewer than the 150,000 or so economists say is needed just to keep up with the natural growth of the labor market. The unemployment rate fell to its lowest level in three years, but the slide to 5.2 percent from 5.4 percent in December appeared driven by frustrated workers giving up job searches so they are no longer counted as unemployed.