Remember when job creation was the one theme that John Kerry kept hammering away at during the 2004 presidential election campaign? They forgot the old Wall Street warning - "past results (ed. - or lack thereof) are not a guarantee of future performance".

Jobless rate falls to 4.7% in January

The U.S. unemployment rate fell to a 5-year low of 4.7% in January as 193,000 jobs were added to nonfarm payrolls, the Labor Department said Friday.



The January payroll figures fell short of expectations of a gain of 248,000, but with upward revisions to November and December of 81,000, the total payroll count was a bit more than expected."This report is much stronger than it first appears," said Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist for High Frequency Economics.

"Despite the 'disappointing' headline, this is a strong report, with the theme again one of upward revisions," said analysts for Action Economics.

Payroll growth averaged 160,000 per month in 2005; it has averaged 229,000 in the past three months.