The US unemployment rate dipped slightly to 4.9 per cent in January but the economy lost jobs for the first time in more than four years, the Labour Department said Friday amid continuing concerns about an economic slowdown. President George W Bush acknowledged the loss of 17,000 jobs in January was another "serious sign" that the US economy was weakening and urged Congress to approve a stimulus package agreed to last week between Bush and congressional leaders. "For the first time in 52 months we didn't create jobs," Bush said in addressing business leaders in Kansas City, Missouri. "The sooner this (stimulus) package makes it to my desk ... the better off our economy is going to be." The US House of Representatives this week approved 150-billion- dollars worth of tax relief to boost consumer spending. The Senate has sought to make changes and on Thursday postponed a vote on the package to next week. Unemployment fell 0.1 per cent from a high of 5 per cent in December. But the Labour Department revised its estimate for jobs created in December to 82,000, up from an earlier estimate of 18,000. The loss in jobs for January reflected declines in the construction and manufacturing sectors, while jobs were added in health care, the department said. US economic growth slowed sharply to 0.6 per cent annualized in the fourth quarter of 2007, prompting the US Federal Reserve to slash its key interest rate by 0.5 points to 3 per cent on Wednesday - its second cut in nine days to calm financial markets and buoy the economy.
