The US unemployment rate dropped to 8.3 percent in January, the Labour Department said Friday, reaching a near three-year low in an unexpected boost to the economy and to PresidentBarack Obama. The steady decline in unemployment since August - 2011 had ended with a jobless rate of 8.5 per cent - comes as Obama continues to face criticisms over the slow pace of the economic recovery. But with 12.8 million Americans still unemployed and millions more forced into part-time jobs or no longer looking for work because they believe there is none available, the issue is likely to feature heavily in November's presidential elections. Obama welcomed the decline in unemployment, but stressed more needed to be done to boost the economy. "These numbers will go up and down in the coming months and there's still far too many Americans who need a job or need a job that pays better than the one they have right now," Obama said in remarks at a fire station in the Washington suburbs. "But the economy is growing stronger. " The better-than-expected January figure reflected the addition of243,000 jobs in the month - the most since April - with widespread growth across the private sector, the Bureau of Labour Statistics said.
