Friday’s report from the Labor Department said the unemployment rate held steady in February at an eight-year low of 4.9 percent.
Advertisement
Job quality was titled toward part time, which the household survey indicated grew by 489,000, while full-time positions increased by just 65,000. Since hitting a peak in September 2014, the mining sector has lost 171,000 jobs.
“If these slack measures continue to improve, then we gain confidence that over time, we’ll see a return of bigger wage gains”.
Furthermore, the length of the average work week fell from 34.6 hours in January to 34.4 and the index of aggregate weekly hours – which some consider akin to a monthly proxy for gross domestic product – by -0.4% month-on-month to 104.9.
“It’s clear that labor market conditions are still strong”, said Paul Ashworth, chief USA economist at Capital Economics.
Wall Street has been betting that the Federal Reserve would put off any interest rate increase at its next meeting later this month. January’s count of 151,000 new jobs – far lower than had been anticipated – was revised upward, to 172,000.
Economists were searching for explanations because wages had begun picking up in recent months. While the unexpectedly weak reading could have been due to a calendar quirk, it still called into question how quickly workers would benefit from a tightening job market.
In addition, added Chris Low of FTN Financial, “lots of poor-quality jobs might encourage the Fed to raise rates, but falling wages and hours should keep them at bay in March at least”.
US employers are shrugging off fears of an economic downturn. Next was hospitals, which added 10,600 jobs last month. That’s below the past gains of 2.5% or more in previous months.
Now, the recovery is in its seventh year, the unemployment rate has dropped sharply to 4.9 percent and the private sector has chalked up 72 months of uninterrupted job gains, the longest streak on record. Over the past 12 months, the construction industry has added 253,000 jobs.
Fed policymakers have been concerned that inflation remains low. The share of Americans participating in the labor force rose to 62.9% in February, the highest level in a year.
158-a-11-(Gus Faucher (foh-SHAY’), senior economist, PNC Financial, in AP interview)-“expect to see it”-Economist Gus Faucher says the number that’s known as the under-employment rate is still slightly higher than pre-recession levels”. China, the world’s second-largest economy, is struggling with high corporate debts and slower growth. Sustained wage growth will help lift inflation closer to the central bank’s goal..
Wages fell by 0.1 percent in February, a disappointing showing after the 0.5 percent increase in January, resulting in a 2.2 percent bump in the yearly rise.
Advertisement
Dennis de Jong, managing director at UFX.com, said Fed Chair Janet Yellen will feel “vindicated” that the non-farm payrolls data confirmed the United States economy is robust and continues to add jobs at a strong pace. Employment in that sector is up by 253,000 over the past 12 months, with workers in residential specialty trades accounting for about half of the increase.
