Report: US Added 353K Jobs in January

Facts

• The US Dept. of Labor reported Friday that the country added 353K jobs last month, much higher than the expected 185K. The report also showed the unemployment rate remaining unchanged at 3.7%, compared to the estimated jump to 3.8%. Average hourly wages also increased by 0.6% from December and by 4.5% year-over-year.¹
• The job growth included 74K jobs in professional and business services and 70K jobs in healthcare, though mining and logging saw a decrease in workers.²
• Meanwhile, the retail industry, particularly in general merchandise, added 44K jobs; manufacturing added 23K jobs, and the number of government jobs increased by 36K, mostly at the federal and local levels.³
• Despite the report, and as the last inflation report in December saw the rate of prices rise 3.4%, Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman Jerome Powell said he doesn't think the 'committee will reach a level of confidence' by their next meeting in March, though he said it's 'to be seen.'⁴
• The unemployment rate has also remained under 4% for 24 months straight now — the longest stretch since it hit 27 months in a row in 1967. A recent CNN poll showed positive consumer sentiment rose 13% last month, though 55% of Americans still believe Pres. Joe Biden's policies have worsened the economy.⁵

Sources: ¹wsj.com, ²New York Times, ³Washington Post, ⁴New York Post and ⁵CNN.

Narratives

• Democratic narrative, as provided by New York Times. Not only has the US been adding jobs, but it's remained at the Fed's goal of 2% inflation for six months now and seen a very respectable gross domestic product jump of 3.3% at the end of last year. The unfortunate reality of today's America is GOP-led hyperpartisanship — which means that despite every economic figure trending in a positive direction, Republicans are going to ignore this tremendous news and mislead their voters ahead of the 2024 election. However, as more Americans begin to feel these positive trends, those lies won't work as well going forward.
• Republican narrative, as provided by Townhall. If this jobs-added report was so positive, why did both the labor force participation and unemployment rates remain unchanged? The report also hasn't counted the thousands of recently announced layoffs by companies including Google, Amazon, BlackRock, and UPS. And claims that real wages went up have been rendered baseless, as hours worked have gone down. The only positive news is that the Fed might lower interest rates — another Biden-appointed government body that chose to suffocate the economy as an official policy.

Predictions