WASHINGTON — In the most impressive surge for the job market since early last year, the United States added 243,000 jobs in January, far more than economists expected. The unemployment rate dropped to 8.3 percent, the lowest in three years. ...

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WASHINGTON — Americans’ income rose in December by the most in nine months, a hopeful sign for the economy after a year of weak wage gains. But consumers didn’t spend any more than they had in November. Americans ended up ...

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WASHINGTON — The number of people seeking unemployment benefits rose last week to a seasonally adjusted 377,000, up from a nearly four-year low the previous week. But the longer-term trend is pointing to a healthier job market. Applications have trended ...

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WASHINGTON — Home sales in December reached their highest pace in nearly a year. The gain coincided with other signs that the troubled U.S. housing market improved at the end of last year. Analysts cautioned that sales remain historically low ...

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WASHINGTON — The number of people seeking unemployment benefits plummeted last week to 352,000, the fewest since April 2008. The decline added to evidence that the job market is strengthening. Applications fell 50,000, the biggest drop in the seasonally adjusted ...

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WASHINGTON — The nation added 200,000 jobs in December in a burst of hiring that drove the unemployment rate to its lowest in almost three years. The figures raised hopes that the economy might finally be healthy enough to power ...

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WASHINGTON — The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell further last week, ending the year on a three-month run of declines that point to stronger hiring in 2012. Weekly applications dropped by 15,000 to a seasonally adjusted 372,000 last ...

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WASHINGTON — The number of people seeking unemployment benefits rose last week after three weeks of decline. Even with the gain, applications remained at a level consistent with modest hiring. And the broader trend over the past month suggests job ...

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WASHINGTON — The outlook for the job market is looking brighter. Far fewer people are seeking unemployment benefits than just three months ago — a sign that layoffs are falling sharply. The number of people applying for benefits fell last ...

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WASHINGTON — The number of people applying for unemployment benefits dropped to the lowest level since May 2008, a hopeful sign that layoffs are declining and hiring is picking up. The Labor Department said Thursday that weekly applications fell by ...

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