The US unemployment rate unexpectedly declined last month to 9.7 per cent, thanks to an increase in manufacturing jobs.

The Labor Department published a report disclosing that the national jobless rate fell by 0.3 per cent in January, as more than 500,000 Americans found work in the period.

Specifically, the government branch revealed that factory payrolls increased by 11,000, which is the largest gain recorded in close to four years.

This decline has occurred after president Barack Obama used his state of the union address to make employment his first priority for 2009.

Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors, suggested that an employment recovery has begun.

He told Reuters: "It's a slow process, but the labor market is indeed starting to turn the corner. I expect increases to be the order of the day going forward."

Last week, Harry Reid, Democratic Senate leader, explained that the political party has prepared a series of jobs bills, which will aim to spur labor market participation in the US economy.