U.S. employers added just 143,000 jobs last month, but the jobless rate slipped to 4% in January. The participation rate is unchanged.
Donald Trump will be blamed from here on.
ABC News is easing into the blame game. They wrote:
The first job report of Donald Trump’s second presidency suggested that he inherited a labor market that is solid but unspectacular. Economists had expected about 170,000 new jobs in January.
It’s solid, just not spectacular?
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The Importance of Prayer: How a Christian Gold Company Stands Out by Defending Americans’ Retirement
4 years later, and labor productivity is down 3.6% while inflation-adjusted compensation has also fallen; Biden bragged about “adding jobs” as if he was employing people himself, but the reality is that he left the labor market in tatters… pic.twitter.com/lgqtDiFd8O
— E.J. Antoni, Ph.D. (@RealEJAntoni) February 6, 2025
The big winners are health care as Americans get sicker, low-paying sales jobs was second, government came in third, and welfare came in fourth.
Healthcare added 44,000 jobs in January, driven by hiring at hospitals (+14,000), nursing and residential care facilities (+13,000), and home healthcare services (+11,000). The sector was below its 2024 average of 57,000 jobs per month.
Retail added 34,000 jobs last month, with notable gains at general merchandise retailers (+31,000) and furniture and home furnishings retailers (+5,000), while electronics and appliance retailers saw a decline (-7,000). Overall, the retail sector had little net employment change in 2024.
The government added 32,000 jobs in January – a figure that was close to in line with its average monthly gain of 38,000 in 2024.
Social assistance added 22,000 jobs, led by individual and family services (+20,000) with gains also occurring in community food and housing, emergency and other relief services (+4,000). The sector grew by an average of 20,000 jobs a month last year.
When the benefits of wild, unsustainable spending wear off (which allowed the government to hire endless workers for their 450+ agencies), it might not be a pretty picture.
Many have given up working or are working part-time and two part-time jobs.
The labor force participation rate was unchanged at 62.6% after accounting for the annual adjustments to population controls made by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
The number of people considered to be long-term unemployed, defined as being jobless for 27 weeks or more, was little changed in January at 1.4 million. The long-term unemployed accounted for 21.1% of all unemployed people.
The number of workers employed part-time for economic reasons was little changed at 4.5 million. These workers would’ve preferred full-time work but were working part-time because their hours were reduced or they couldn’t find full-time jobs.
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