American factories added the most jobs in a year as they stayed at the forefront of the expansion, boosting employment opportunities in the rest of the economy.
Manufacturing payrolls increased 50,000 last month, exceeding the most optimistic forecast in a Bloomberg News survey and capping the largest two-year gain since 1985, Labor Department figures released today showed. Total employment across the economy jumped 243,000 in January as the jobless rate unexpectedly dropped to 8.3 percent.
