The recovery in the U.S. labor market disappointed for a second month in January with only modest job growth, highlighting the persistently difficult prospects for millions of unemployed and bolstering calls for more stimulus. Nonfarm payrolls increased by just 49,000 after a downwardly revised 227,000 December decrease, according to a Labor Department report Friday. The jobless rate fell to 6.3%, reflecting a pickup in the number of employed and more people having left the workforce. The January data may strengthen the case for another sizeable pandemic relief package. President Joe Biden has proposed a $1.9 trillion package, but many Republicans prefer to hold off on more assistance and wait for the December $900 billion aid package to filter through the economy. “Without further aid our economy is going to continue to struggle,” White House Council of Economics Advisers member Heather Boushey said in an interview on Bloomberg Television after the report. “We need to continue to act and we need to do so quickly.” Private payrolls rose by only 6,000 last month, restrained by job cuts in retail trade, transportation and warehousing, and leisure and hospitality, while other industries saw only modest gains. The latest jobs figures put a dent in a recent string of stronger economic data, including growth in manufacturing and home construction. At the same time, the report included some bright spots. Americans are working longer hours and employment at temporary-help services jumped the most in three months, which may foreshadow a pickup in hiring in coming months. Average weekly hours rose to 35, the highest in data back to 2006. Payrolls at temporary-help services climbed almost 81,000. The report “shows a job market that is treading water,” Bank of America Corp. economists Joseph Song and Alexander Lin said in a note. “But there are some nascent signs of better things to come.” The median estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a 105,000 gain in payrolls and an unemployment rate of 6.7%. Stocks rose after the report, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note climbed and the dollar slipped. Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2TwO8Gm Bloomberg Quicktake brings you live global news and original shows spanning business, technology, politics and culture. Make sense of the stories changing your business and your world. To watch complete coverage on Bloomberg Quicktake 24/7, visit http://www.bloomberg.com/qt/live, or watch on Apple TV, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, Fire TV and Android TV on the Bloomberg app. Have a story to tell? Fill out this survey for a chance to have it featured on Bloomberg Quicktake: https://cor.us/surveys/27AF30 Connect with us on… YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/Bloomberg Breaking News on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BloombergQuickTakeNews Twitter: https://twitter.com/quicktake Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quicktake Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/quicktake