Editor's note: This item was taken from dallasnews.com's Economy Watch blog.

That's the good news. The bad news is that state employers cut payrolls by 354,200 last year, according to a comprehensive revision of 2009 jobs data. That's more than 78,000 more than the 276,000 job losses the state appeared to suffer last year according to earlier data released six weeks ago.

As for January, the state picked up 20,900 jobs in professional and business services, a category that includes a lot of temporary jobs. That's a really good sign because an increase in temporary jobs is traditionally a sign that labor markets are turning around after a recession.

The state also gained 1,800 manufacturing jobs in January, as well as 5,200 in trade, transportation and utilities and 6,300 in leisure and hospitality. Employers cut 2,000 jobs in information; 1,800 in government; and 1,100 in mining and logging.

A word of caution. The January jobs report is preliminary. Also, monthly jobs data are based on surveys, plus a bunch of estimates and assumptions. This month's report has even more statistical moving parts than usual. The 2009 data just went through a comprehensive revision.

Also, the January job gain comes after adjustments to account for typical seasonal variations. Without adjusting for seasonal factors, the state lost 170,700 jobs. But the state always loses jobs in January on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, as the economy cools off after the Christmas shopping rush.