U.S. Jan jobless rate falls to 9.7%, low since Aug (by Greg Robb)

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The unemployment rate fell in January to 9.7% from 10% in December, the Labor Department said Friday. Nonfarm payrolls contracted by 20,000 in January. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected a 25,000 gain and for the unemployment rate to remain steady at 10.0%. Under the revisions released today, job losses since the start of the recession in December 2007 totaled 8.4 million. This was in line with expectations.