WASHINGTON – The U.S. economy lost 20,000 jobs in January, the U.S. Labor Department said Friday, offering fresh evidence that hiring remains weak nationwide.

The unemployment rate fell to 9.7 percent, the lowest level since August and down from 10 percent in December and November. The jobless rate and the payroll count come from separate surveys.

The Labor Department also released revised employment estimates for the last few years that showed the economy has lost 8.4 million jobs since the recession began in December 2007.

The revised figures also showed that U.S. employers eliminated 86,000 jobs in November and December, slightly more than the earlier estimate of a decrease of 81,000.

The number of jobs lost last month was higher than had been expected. Among 85 economists surveyed by Bloomberg, the median projection was that payrolls rose by 15,000 in January. They also predicted the jobless rate would stay at 10 percent.

“The labor market, six months after the economy turned positive, is beginning to find its bottom,” Neal Soss, chief economist at Credit Suisse in New York, who forecast a payroll drop of 25,000, told Bloomberg News. “We’re still teetering on the cusp of job growth.”

Rhode Island’s unemployment rate rose in December to 12.9 percent after declining over the previous two months, according to the R.I. Department of Labor and Training. The only states with higher joblessness were Michigan and Nevada.