FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
nationthailand

The economy added 225,000 jobs in January, showing continued strength

The economy added 225,000 jobs in January, showing continued strength

WASHINGTON - The U.S. economy added 225,000 jobs in January, surpassing analysts predictions in a sign of continued growth for the economy.

 The unemployment rate ticked up slightly to 3.6 percent, remaining near a 50 year low.

Job gains picked up in construction, health care, as well as transportation and warehousing, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The number of jobs added for the month was well above the average of 176,000 jobs per month in 2019, and 223,000 in 2018. In 2019, the U.S. added 300,000 jobs in January, an impressive uptick that federal statisticians surmised had spiked because of the government shutdown as people took on part-time jobs.

Business experts had expected a more modest monthly total, saying it was inevitable with the economy's long expansion. January was the 112th straight month of job growth since 2010 and many analysts predicted the total would be around 150,000 or 160,000.

The report comes on the heels of a milestone December, when women outnumbered men in the job force for only the second time in history.

President Trump is staking his reelection campaign in part on the strength of the economy - touting the job creation under his administration repeatedly during the State of the Union address, for example.

But analysts have urged caution, pointing to other economic measures that suggest economy may be cooling. Relatively modest wage growth remains a puzzle for economists who say it has not grown as expected given the increasingly tight labor market. Business investment has fallen for three straight quarters. And problems at Boeing as well as fears about the coronavirus have raised fears about more economic head winds on the horizon.

The jobs report is the first since President Donald Trump signed the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement in January, and weeks after Trump signed a partial trade deal with China, ending months of uncertainty over some of his major economic proposals.

 

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