"As a result, employers are having difficulties filling job openings, an unprecedented number of workers are quitting to take new jobs, and wages are rising at their fastest pace in many years." "Labor demand is very strong, and while labor force participation has ticked up, labor supply remains subdued," Powell said. improvements in labor market conditions have been widespread, including for workers at the lower end of the wage distribution as well as for African Americans and Hispanics," Powell said during his testimony before the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday. economic backdrop during his semi-annual address before Congress earlier this week. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell offered an upbeat assessment of the U.S. Taken together, evidence of much stickier-than-expected inflation and a consistently improving labor market have helped make the case for the Federal Reserve to begin raising interest rates and otherwise remove its pandemic-era support mechanisms for the U.S. The Consumer Price Index last rose 7.5% in January over last year - the biggest jump in 40 years. economy, though wages have not kept pace with the rise in consumer price inflation. This has, in turn, contributed to the overall rise in inflation seen across the U.S. And over last month, average hourly earnings were flat after rising by 0.6% in January.īut even with the slowdown, wages have risen at rates well above pre-pandemic trends for months now. On an annual basis, wages rose 5.1%, marking the slowest rate since December. Meanwhile, average hourly wage growth unexpectedly decelerated in February. Only motor vehicles and parts manufacturing employers shed jobs on net during February, with these falling by 18,000. Transportation and warehousing job growth came in at almost 50,000 to nearly match January's gains.Īnd within the goods-producing sector, strength was likewise seen across manufacturing, construction and non-durable goods employment, with job growth accelerating in February compared to January. Leisure and hospitality employers added back 179,000 jobs to build on a jump of 167,000 from January, and education and health services jobs rose by 112,000. The hard-hit services sector posted a notable increase in jobs last month. And December's payrolls were upwardly revised again to 588,000, compared to the 510,000 posted in last month's revision.įebruary's also saw broad gains in employment across industries, especially since Omicron cases retreated further in the weeks since the last jobs report. In Friday's report, January's job gains were also upwardly revised even further to show 481,000, compared to the 467,000 previously reported. Last month, January's jobs report also showed many more jobs returned than expected, with payrolls rising by 400,000 versus the 125,000 expected at the time. 5.8% expected and a downwardly revised 5.5% in Januaryįebruary's jobs report presented yet another upside surprise to investors, and marked a fourteenth consecutive month of payroll growth. 0.5% expected and a downwardly revised 0.6% in JanuaryĪverage hourly earnings, year-over-year: 5.1% vs. 3.9% expected, 4.0% in JanuaryĪverage hourly earnings, month-over-month: 0.0% vs. +423,000 expected and an upwardly revised +481,000 in January Here were the main metrics from the print, compared to consensus estimates compiled by Bloomberg: The Labor Department released its February jobs report Friday at 8:30 a.m. economy added back the most jobs since July 2021 in February, with job growth accelerating even in the already-tight labor market as new Omicron cases from earlier this year came down.
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