Jobs Report: The new job report also known as the Employment Situation Summary, released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), shows that the labor market remains tight despite rising risks of a recession, contributing to keeping inflation elevated via solid wage gains. Job creation decelerated in February but was still stronger than expected despite the Federal Reserve’s efforts to slow the economy and bring down inflation.
What is The Jobs report?
The jobs report which is usually released on the first Friday of every month is based on surveys of households and employers. It usually estimates the number of people on payrolls in the United States economy, the average number of hours they worked weekly, as well as their average hourly earnings.
The jobs report provides estimates by state and metropolitan area, and by industry. The report also tallies the hours worked and earnings of production and non-supervisory employees.
February Jobs Report
The new job report indicated that Nonfarm payrolls rose by 311,000 for the month, the Labor Department reported Friday. The labor market shows no fresh signs of deterioration with minimal job layoffs despite the news of big tech firings over the last several months, and this will harden the resolve of Fed officials to slow economic demand down with higher interest rates
Though unemployment rate rose to 3.6%, above the expectation for 3.4%, amid a tick higher in the labor force participation rate to 62.5%, its highest level since March 2020. The new job report was still above the 225,000 Dow Jones estimate a sign that the employment market is still hot. February’s net job gains surpassed many other economists’ estimates for a more modest month, most economists and financial experts has predicted that only 205,000 new jobs would be added.
Survey of households
The survey of households, which the Bureau of Labor Statistics uses to compute the unemployment rate, showed a smaller 177,000 increase. A more encompassing unemployment measure that includes discouraged workers and those holding part-time jobs for economic reasons rose to 6.8%, an increase of 0.2 percentage points.
There also was some good news on the inflation side, as average hourly earnings climbed 4.6% from a year ago, below the estimate of 4.8%. The monthly increase of 0.2% also was below the 0.4% estimate. The jobs report is among the most important and comprehensive economic releases and the earliest to provide data for the prior month. Its numbers are hotly anticipated and closely parsed as a result.
Job openings per person
The monthly report data released showed that there were 1.9 job openings for every person looking for one. Fed Chair Jerome Powell has frequently highlighted how the labor market remains short of what the United States usually gets before the pandemic, which is normally a growth projection by more than 3 million people. February’s employment report showed a 0.1 percentage point increase in the labor force participation rate to 62.5% the highest it’s been since April 2020. However, it remains below pre-pandemic levels of 63.4%.
