A new report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics is giving economists cause for optimism - the national unemployment rate dropped to 8.3 percent in January, its lowest level in years.

The drop in unemployment came as a surprise to many experts who had predicted job gains to slow down after the start of the new year. Some estimates from Bloomberg analysts had pegged new job growth at 140,000, but in reality the economy added 243,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in January. An unemployment rate of 8.3 percent translates into 12.8 million unemployed Americans, according to the report.

The gains have been attributed to the private sector, which added 257,000 jobs last month, particularly in the professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, and manufacturing sectors. Workers in the motion picture and sound recording industry didn't fare as well - that sector shed 8,000 jobs in January.

While news of the lower unemployment rate was well received - the stock market rose 1 percent after the announcement - many workers are still struggling to find jobs. The unemployment rate among veterans, for example, is as high as 32 percent by some counts, according to Treasury Department officials cited by Market News International.

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