WASHINGTON — The economy likely produced another solid month of hiring in January, a promising start for 2012.Economists forecast that employers added a net 155,000 jobs last month and that the unemployment rate remained 8.5 percent for a second straight month, according to a survey by Factset.
The unemployment rate has fallen for four straight months. It’s at its lowest level in nearly three years.
A gain of 155,000 jobs would be down slightly from December, when employers added a net 200,000. Still, it would mark the seventh straight month in which at least 100,000 jobs have been added. That hasn’t happened since 2005.

