![]() “It was a great time to be looking for jobs,’’ she said. A former public affairs office, Toenyes, 29, began seeking a job in public relations or a related field. Some economists say that trend, along with business investment in automation, is helping fuel a surge in productivity that allows companies to raise pay and reap bigger profits without necessarily raising prices.Ĭonsider Elizabeth Toenyes, who medically retired as an Army captain in 2022 after undergoing hip and shoulder surgeries and receiving a diagnosis of PTSD. The tight job market means more workers have managed to find jobs that they like and that are well-suited to their skills. “With Burger King or a warehouse or wherever paying very highly, and with the cost of our program for students and parents, being competitive is difficult.” “We have to do things internally to invest in our staff members and make them feel appreciated and let them know the work they’re doing is meaningful,” she said. A cooling labor market, he suggested, will allow the Fed to start cutting rates this spring. The combination of easing inflation and sturdy hiring is raising hopes that the Fed can achieve a so-called “soft landing” by taming inflation without causing a recession - a scenario consistent with Friday’s numbers.įaucher said he expects average monthly job growth to decelerate to around 150,000 and for the unemployment rate to rise to slightly above 4% by year’s end. Inflation has eased, more or less steadily, in response: Consumer prices in January were up just 3.1% from a year earlier - way down from a year-over-year peak of 9.1% in 2022 and edging closer to the Fed’s 2% target. The Fed boosted its benchmark rate to the highest level in more than two decades. When the Fed began aggressively raising rates in March 2022 to fight the worst bout of inflation in four decades, a painful recession was widely predicted, with waves of layoffs and high unemployment. Gus Faucher, chief economist at PNC Financial Services, said he was impressed by the breadth of hiring last month: Among industries, health care companies added 67,000 jobs, government at all levels 52,000, restaurants and bars 42,000, construction companies 23,000 and retailers 19,000. The Fed could be reassured by the influx of job seekers, which typically makes it easier for businesses to fill jobs without having to significantly raise pay. The unemployment rate rose last month in part because more people began looking for a job and didn’t immediately find one. The Fed stopped raising rates in July and has signaled that it envisions three rate cuts this year. Most economists and Wall Street traders expect the first rate cut to come in June. With December and January job gains revised sharply down, wage growth easing and the unemployment rate up, the Fed’s policymakers aren’t likely to worry about an overheating economy. The February figures will likely make Fed officials more comfortable about cutting rates sometime in the coming months. Average pay growth has been exceeding inflation for more than year, but when it rises too fast it can feed inflation. Though inflationary pressures have significantly eased, average prices remain about 17% above where they stood three years ago.įriday’s report gave the inflation fighters at the Federal Reserve some encouraging news: Average hourly wages rose just 0.1% from January, the smallest monthly gain in more than two years, and 4.3% from a year earlier, less than expected. Many voters blame Biden for the surge in consumer prices that began in 2021. Yet despite sharply lower inflation, a healthy job market and a record-high stock market, many Americans say they are unhappy with the state of the economy - a sentiment that is sure to weigh on President Joe Biden’s bid for re-election. And it marked the 25th straight month in which joblessness has remained below 4% - the longest such streak since the 1960s. Though that was the highest rate in two years, it is still low by historic standards. At the same time, the unemployment rate ticked up two-tenths of a point in February to 3.9%. ![]() Last month’s job growth marked an increase from a revised gain of 229,000 jobs in January. economy’s resilience in the face of high interest rates. WASHINGTON (AP) - America’s employers delivered another healthy month of hiring in February, adding a surprising 275,000 jobs and again showcasing the U.S.
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