The US economy added a mere 36,000 jobs, but the unemployment rate dropped to 9.0% in January, according to the latest report from the Department of Labor.  Here's a look at the unemployment trends from the Bureau of Labor Statistics:

The manufacturing sector had a relatively good month, adding 49,000 jobs.  Retail added 28,000 jobs.  Meanwhile, construction, and transportation and warehousing employment dropped during the month.  Here are some of the key data from other areas we like to track in the monthly jobs report:

The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involun- tary part-time workers) declined from 8.9 to 8.4 million in January. These individuals were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job.

In January, 2.8 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force, up from 2.5 million a year earlier. (These data are not seasonally adjusted.) These individuals were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey.

Among the marginally attached, there were 1.0 million discouraged workers in January, about the same as a year earlier. (These data are not seasonally adjusted.) Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them. The remaining 1.8 million persons marginally attached to the labor force had not searched for work in the 4 weeks pre- ceding the survey for reasons such as school attendance or family responsibilities.

Read the full report from the BLS here.