U.S. economy added 49,000 jobs in January, following December losses

The U.S. economy added 49,000 jobs in January and the unemployment rate fell to 6.3 percent, the Labor Department reported Friday.

The jobs number increase follows 277,000 lost in December, as the domestic economy continues to struggle amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The numbers in the department's Bureau of Labor Statistics' report for January were slightly lower than economists’ expectations for a gain of 58,000 jobs.

December was the first month since April that the domestic economy shed jobs.

The economy has regained about 12 million of the 22 million jobs that were lost in March 2020,  the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.