Employment Stats for January Not that Impressive

business declineHave things really improved in the employment world or is the media hyping it up? The outlook may have become better, but is it really that good? The month of January seems to suggest otherwise. Employers have done very limited hiring and only 113,000 jobs were added across the board.  This is the second month in a row, in which the stats are disappointing. Is this a sign that the economy is finally slowing down after the upsurge last year? Experts seem to think that way.

Last year, the average value of the monthly gain was recorded at 194,000. The value observed in this January is so much less. The stats for December were even worse and only 75,000 jobs were added, the prime reason being the holiday season and the end of the year looming near.

Among the 113,000 jobs that were added, 21,000 belonged to factories. 20,000 of these were related to architecture and engineering. The healthcare sector added 17,000 jobs whereas the retail industry reduced their jobs by 12,900.  Enough jobs have not been added, but the hourly earnings have increased to $24.21 at a rate of 1.9%.

Considering the last three months, the average number of jobs that were added is 154,000. In the three months, prior to these, far better average values were recorded at 201,000.

In the light of the above figures, the industry experts have one major fear: the sluggishness is probably an indication that the job market is declining again. This is not just limited to a few sectors; but it can be said for the all the industries. Last year, the manufacturing and healthcare sectors may have blossomed, but that may not be this year, in not just the U.S., but worldwide as well.

Despite the disappoint figures, a lot of people did begin to search for jobs in January, which does indicate they were hopeful. Some of them did succeed, which brought the unemployment rate to 6.6%. Last month, this was recorded at 6.7%. Ever since December of 2008, these are the lowest values that have ever been recorded.

The above figures clearly demonstrate that the US job market is not all that strong. Though hopes are not that high, everyone does wish for a better outlook this year than seems right now.

Source: www.aol.com

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