Latest Job Report Predicts Brighter Days for the Unemployed

Just days after Punxsatawney Phil, the famous weather-predicting groundhog, pointed to an early spring, the job numbers coming out of the Bureau of Labor Statistics also predicted brighter days for the unemployed.

The unemployment rate dropped to 9 percent, its lowest level since April 2009. The private sector only added 50,000 jobs, but strong manufacturing job growth indicated that there will be more to come. The sector added 49,000 jobs in January.