On Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the January jobs report. The economy added 467,000 jobs last month – far above low expectations.
Why it matters: Because of Omicron, many forecasters thought the economy lost jobs in January. The consensus was for only 150,000 jobs added, which is well below recent months. In December we added 510,000 jobs and 647,000 in November.
By the numbers: Here are some other details from the report:
- The labor force grew by almost 1.4 million. This is long-awaited and great news as it shows workers are finally flooding back into the labor market to fill those 10.9 million job openings. There are still 896,000 fewer workers in the labor force than in February 2020, but that gap could be erased entirely with a strong February report.
- Wages rose more than 0.7% from December, 5.7% annually from January 2021. But they’re flat after counting inflation.
- Leisure and hospitality added 151,000; professional and business services 86,000; wholesale and retail trade 54,000.
- There remain 2.9 million fewer Americans employed than in February 2020.
Bottom line: The robust job creation in January is welcome news. But the Biden administration and Congress must make the worker shortage crisis a top priority.
—Curtis Dubay, Senior Economist, U.S. Chamber of Commerce |
