A new jobs report reveals that the U.S. unemployment rate has dropped to its lowest level in eight years, while wages for American workers have grown.

According to a report released by the Labor Department on Friday, 151,000 jobs were added in the month of January, bringing unemployment down to 4.9 percent, the lowest since February 2008, reports The New York Times.

However, job growth last month fell short of economists' expectations at CNN Money. They had projected that it would reach 197,000. The job growth rate was also lower than the last two previous months, as 262,000 jobs were added in December and 280,000 in November.

On a positive note, workers' average hourly wages rose 12 cents last month to $25.39, which is a 2.5 percent increase from last year. That means wage growth is finally showing signs of life after remaining flat in December.

During a rare press conference Friday, President Barack Obama pointed out that unemployment had come a long way since the Great Recession in 2009, when the rate was at 10 percent. 

"After reaching 10 percent in 2009, the unemployment rate has now fallen to 4.9 percent even as more American joined the job market last month. Americans are working," he said. "The progress we've made going from 10 percent to under 5 percent, that's a testament to American workers, American businesses, American people being resilient and sticking to it."

Despite the good report, experts said not everything was going well in the economy, since U.S. economic growth was only at 7 percent in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, the manufacturing sector is currently in a recession; there is less spending and funding for construction projects; stocks in the U.S. and in the global market have fallen; and the broad S&P 500 is down by 6.2 percent so far this year.