U.S. President Barack Obama challenged Congress to the economic recovery to continue as new data showed the unemployment rate to its lowest rate in three years.
Unemployment fell to 8.3%, beating analyst forecasts, and decreased from 8.5% in december.
Speaking at a fire station in Virginia, the president warned Congress: "Do not delay recovery that we are."
A Department of Labor report showed 243,000 new jobs were created in January, the highest in nine months.
The figures are a political boost for Mr. Obama, whose reelection prospects hinge to a sustainable economic recovery.
Genuine recovery '?"Now, those numbers go up and down in the coming months, and there are still too many Americans who need a job or want a job that pays better than they have now," said Obama.
"But the economy is growing stronger. It speeds recovery. And we must do everything in our power to keep it going."
"Now is the time to self-inflicted wound to our economy. I want a clear message to send to Congress. Not delay the recovery that we are not a mess."
Obama urged Congressional Republicans to legislation extending a tax cut for 160 million Americans to the end of the year pass.
Leading Republicans acknowledged improvements in the labor market, while adding that more can be done to the state of the U.S. economy.
"These figures are encouraging, especially for the millions of Americans out of work, but we should aim even higher. We must not settle, we can do more," House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the House John Boehner said: "Our economy is still creating jobs, as it should be, and why we need a new approach."
On the campaign front-running presidential candidate Mitt Romney said: "Unfortunately, these numbers are not that President Obama's policies are a real economic recovery to prevent collapse."
Election prospects
Friday the Labor Department data showed employment growth had been widespread, with large gains in business services, leisure and hospitality, and manufacturing.
The report was also supported by data revisions of november and december, that 60,000 more jobs in two months than previously reported seen.
The figures add some data suggest a gradual U.S. economic recovery.
Last week it was announced that the U.S. economy expanded at a 2.8% annual pace in October-December quarter, a full percentage point higher than in the previous quarter.
Earlier this week a study from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) reported that the U.S. manufacturing sector expanded at its fastest pace in seven months in January.
But a report Wednesday from the U.S. Congressional Budget Office, a federal agency, predicted that unemployment will rise to almost 9% in the last three months of this year and the maximum of 9.2% early next year.
Unemployment and economic recovery has been a dominant issue in the campaign for the November U.S. presidential election.
While the downward trend in unemployment is a good sign for Barack Obama's chances for a second term, he's still probably more work than voters without post-war president to cope.
When Ronald Reagan won reelection in a landslide victory in 1984, unemployment in the U.S. was 7.5%.
In 1932, in the middle of the Great Depression Herbert Hoover was voted out in a year when unemployment was 23.6%.
His successor, Franklin Roosevelt, unemployment of 16.9% to 14.6% in 1936, when he was reelected four years later, according to data from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Speaking at a fire station in Virginia, the president warned Congress: "Do not delay recovery that we are."
A Department of Labor report showed 243,000 new jobs were created in January, the highest in nine months.
The figures are a political boost for Mr. Obama, whose reelection prospects hinge to a sustainable economic recovery.
Genuine recovery '?"Now, those numbers go up and down in the coming months, and there are still too many Americans who need a job or want a job that pays better than they have now," said Obama.
"But the economy is growing stronger. It speeds recovery. And we must do everything in our power to keep it going."
"Now is the time to self-inflicted wound to our economy. I want a clear message to send to Congress. Not delay the recovery that we are not a mess."
Obama urged Congressional Republicans to legislation extending a tax cut for 160 million Americans to the end of the year pass.
Leading Republicans acknowledged improvements in the labor market, while adding that more can be done to the state of the U.S. economy.
"These figures are encouraging, especially for the millions of Americans out of work, but we should aim even higher. We must not settle, we can do more," House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the House John Boehner said: "Our economy is still creating jobs, as it should be, and why we need a new approach."
On the campaign front-running presidential candidate Mitt Romney said: "Unfortunately, these numbers are not that President Obama's policies are a real economic recovery to prevent collapse."
Election prospects
Friday the Labor Department data showed employment growth had been widespread, with large gains in business services, leisure and hospitality, and manufacturing.
The report was also supported by data revisions of november and december, that 60,000 more jobs in two months than previously reported seen.
The figures add some data suggest a gradual U.S. economic recovery.
Last week it was announced that the U.S. economy expanded at a 2.8% annual pace in October-December quarter, a full percentage point higher than in the previous quarter.
Earlier this week a study from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) reported that the U.S. manufacturing sector expanded at its fastest pace in seven months in January.
But a report Wednesday from the U.S. Congressional Budget Office, a federal agency, predicted that unemployment will rise to almost 9% in the last three months of this year and the maximum of 9.2% early next year.
Unemployment and economic recovery has been a dominant issue in the campaign for the November U.S. presidential election.
While the downward trend in unemployment is a good sign for Barack Obama's chances for a second term, he's still probably more work than voters without post-war president to cope.
When Ronald Reagan won reelection in a landslide victory in 1984, unemployment in the U.S. was 7.5%.
In 1932, in the middle of the Great Depression Herbert Hoover was voted out in a year when unemployment was 23.6%.
His successor, Franklin Roosevelt, unemployment of 16.9% to 14.6% in 1936, when he was reelected four years later, according to data from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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