"On Wednesday, the government reported that U.S. employers added a surprisingly strong 130,000 jobs in January and the unemployment rate fell to a still-low 4.3% from 4.4%. However, government revisions cut 2024-2025 U.S. payrolls by hundreds of thousands. That reduced the number of jobs created last year to just 181,000, a third of the previously reported 584,000 and the weakest since the pandemic year of 2020."
"Mounting layoff announcements in the past year, combined with the government's own sluggish labor market reports, have left Americans increasingly pessimistic about the economy. The Labor Department also recently reported that job openings fell in December to the lowest level in more than five years, another sign that the American labor market remains sluggish, even though the economy is registering solid growth."
Weekly initial unemployment claims fell by 5,000 to 227,000 for the week ending Feb. 7, roughly matching forecasts. Filings for jobless aid serve as a near-real-time indicator of layoffs and labor-market health. January payrolls rose by 130,000 and the unemployment rate dipped to 4.3%, but government revisions trimmed prior payroll counts, cutting last year’s job creation to 181,000 from 584,000. Weekly layoffs have mostly stayed between 200,000 and 250,000, yet recent cuts at major companies and a December drop in job openings to a five-year low have increased public pessimism. Hiring has slowed amid tariff uncertainty and lingering high-rate effects.
Read at Fortune
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]