WASHINGTON - Nervous employers cut 17,000 jobs in January — the first such reduction in more than four years and a fresh trouble sign that the economy is in danger of stalling.
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The Labor Department's report, released Friday, also showed that the unemployment rate dipped slightly to 4.9 percent, from 5 percent, as the civilian labor force shrank slightly.
Job losses were widespread. Manufacturers, construction firms and a variety of professional and business services eliminated jobs in January — reflecting the toll of the housing and credit debacles. The government cut jobs, too. All those cuts swamped job gains in education, health care, retailing and elsewhere.
Wage growth also slowed, another indication that employers are tightening their belts amid the economic slowdown.
Although the unemployment rate declined a notch, from 5 percent in December to 4.9 percent in January, the jobless rate — calculated from a different statistical survey than the payroll figures — dipped as people left the labor force for any number of reasons.
Taken together, the figures suggested that employers have grown cautious as they try to cope with fallout from housing and credit problems and rising worry about the ailing economy.
Economists were predicting employers would boost payrolls by around 70,000, and that the unemployment rate would stay at 5 percent.
Fears of a recession have grown.