What to Expect From the January Jobs Report - The New York Times

The Labor Department will release initial hiring and unemployment figures for January at 8:30 a.m. Here’s what to watch for:

• Forecasters estimate that employers added 164,000 jobs in January, slightly better than the gain of 145,000 jobs in December.

• The unemployment rate probably held steady at 3.5 percent, a half-century low.

• Average hourly earnings are expected to show a 3 percent increase from a year earlier, on par with recent gains.

• The report will include a major annual revision, which preliminary estimates indicate will show the economy added half a million fewer jobs in 2018 and 2019 than earlier reported.

The job market is strong, but growth is slowing.

The American job market came through a tumultuous 2019 relatively unscathed. It most likely began 2020 on a similar note.

Hiring slowed somewhat last year amid trade tensions and recession fears, but the job market has proved resilient. Employers have added jobs for 111 straight months, far and away a record. The recent pace of 150,000 to 200,000 new jobs per month should be enough to keep pushing down unemployment and drawing more Americans into the work force. Layoffs are near lows not seen in decades.

The recent abatement in the trade war could give a lift to hiring, especially in manufacturing. But that could be offset by other factors, including the shutdown in production of Boeing’s 737 Max aircraft, layoffs among retailers and the effects of the new coronavirus. Most economists expect hiring to continue its gradual slowdown this year.

“It isn’t clear we’re going to resume hiring just because we’ve found some stability in the manufacturing sector,” said Julia Coronado, president of MacroPolicy Perspectives, an economics consulting firm. “It’s not exactly a bullish story. It’s just some stability.”

Still, this is, by many measures, the best environment for workers in years, if not generations. Employers are hiring candidates with disabilities, criminal records and other barriers to employment, and are offering flexible schedules and other perks to draw workers off the sidelines. Wages are rising fastest for people at the bottom of the earnings ladder.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

"jobs" - Google News
February 07, 2020 at 06:00PM
https://ift.tt/2HfavM9

What to Expect From the January Jobs Report - The New York Times
"jobs" - Google News
https://ift.tt/36m99ub
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update