Jan. jobs report falls short of expectations
January employment gains were well below analyst and market expectations, as the federal government reported an addition of 113,000 jobs during the month.
Analysts at Yahoo expected a gain of 150,000 jobs, while market expectations were around 175,000. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the unemployment rate was little unchanged, dipping from 6.7 percent in December to 6.6 percent as 232,000 fewer people were reported as being long-term unemployed.
"January job figures offered a decidedly mixed message,” said Michael Hicks, director of Ball State University’s Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER), who called the numbers “disappointing” and “well below the rate needed to return to pre-recession employment levels this decade.”
“Part-time work for economic reasons declined significantly in January, but voluntary increases in part-time work rose,” he said in a statement. “All in all, this is not a strong jobs report, but neither is it alarming.”
The biggest gains were in construction (48,000), following a decline of 22,000 positions in December), which Hicks saw as encouraging.
“Part of this may be related to the snowfall, since private construction firms are heavily involved in snow removal,” Hicks said. “But, the breadth of construction-related employment points to a stronger season.”
Jobs were also added in professional and business services (36,000), leisure and hospitality (24,000), manufacturing (21,000), and wholesale trade (14,000).
Employment fell in the retail sector by a net 13,000 jobs as sporting goods, hobby, book and music stores lost 22,000 positions while other areas saw growth, such as motor vehicle and parts dealers, which gained 7,000.
Health care, financial activities and transportation saw little change during January.
The BLS reported job gains for November and December as being 34,000 higher than originally estimated. The government revised November’s employment growth from 241,000 to 274,000 and December’s from 74,000 to 75,000.
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