January Jobs Report Defies Dismal Expectations

Bloomberg News reports:

U.S. employers added more jobs than forecast last month, despite a surge in Covid-19 infections and related business closures.

Nonfarm payrolls increased 467,000 in January after an upwardly revised 510,000 gain in December, a Labor Department report showed Friday. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4%, and average hourly earnings jumped.

In a surprise display of strength, the labor market continued to improve last month, weathering record-high levels of coronavirus infections and the resulting absenteeism from work.

Read the full article.

In addition to January crushing expectations on jobs added, the December number was revised from 199K to 510K.

Between the January and December revisions, that is an addition of 778,000 jobs announced in the BLS report today.

Huge numbers against pretty dismal expectations.

— Josh Jordan (@NumbersMuncher) February 4, 2022

Surprisingly strong jobs report: America adds 467,000 positions in January | ⁦@AnnekenTappe⁩https://t.co/dE39Tgt2mv

— State of the Union (@CNNSotu) February 4, 2022

The January jobs report offers yet more evidence that projections from analysts and revisions from previous months mean we should not clamor around the first Friday of each month for an incomplete and misleading economic picture, with 700,000 jobs now added over last two months.

— Jeff Zeleny (@jeffzeleny) February 4, 2022