WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. employment growth rebounded in mid-January and job losses in the previous month were deeper than initially expected, confirming an urgent need for additional government relief money to help overcome COVID-19 transmission.
A close Labor Department employment report on Friday showed job losses in manufacturing and construction, two sectors that have been backing the economy. There was another loss at restaurants and bars. Retailers and employers in the transportation industry also laid off workers.
President Joe Biden is pushing the U.S. Congress to pass a $ 1.9 trillion recovery plan, met with opposition from mostly Republican lawmakers, now worried about national debt rising. The Senate worked late Thursday night, with Biden’s fellow Democrats aiming to defy Republicans’ opposition to the COVID-19 relief plan.
“The weakness highlighted in today’s labor report opens the door for Biden’s administration to push forward with a higher spending package and bring relief to many Americans and businesses that still exist. fighting the pandemic, ”said Charlie Ripley, senior investment expert at Allianz Investment Management.
Nonfarm payrolls rose 49,000 jobs last month. Data for December has been revised to show 227,000 lost jobs instead of 140,000 as previously reported. Earnings are 9.9 million lower than the February 2020 high.
The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that employment would not return to its pre-pandemic level by 2024. Economists who made Reuters had predicted that payments would rise 50,000 jobs in January.
The government also said that the economy created 250,000 fewer jobs in the 12 months through March 2020 than previously reported.
December’s fall in payrolls was the first in eight months and came amid renewed restrictions on businesses such as restaurants and bars to delay recovery in coronavirus infections. While these loops continued for businesses into the first half of January, there is reason for cautious optimism as some employment measures have stabilized since the second half of January as authorities began easing restrictions.
The government surveyed businesses and households for a January earnings report in the middle of the month. He also noted that the response rate to the survey was “slightly below average. ”
Nearly $ 900 billion in additional relief money provided by the government at the end of December may help in the coming months. Moreover, the rate of COVID-19 infections appears to have reached early January, a move that could give a boost to recruitment in the coming months, should it hold on.
Diseases hit a one – day record of about 300,000 in early January but by the end of the month they were getting on average closer to 100,000 a day, with most of the country seeing a downward trend, according to a Reuters account.
U.S. stocks opened higher. The dollar fell against a basket of money. U.S. Treasury prices were largely lower.
LONG VERSES TO REFORM
Last month, manufacturing payments fell 10,000 jobs, while construction sites fell 3,000.
Vendors showed 38,000 jobs and healthcare earnings declined 30,000. The transport and warehouse industry lost 28,000 jobs. 61,000 jobs were lost in the leisure and hospitality sector. But employment in professional and business services increased 97,000 jobs.
Government payments rose 43,000 jobs, built on benefits in state and local government education.
Although the unemployment rate fell to 6.3% in January from 6.7% in December, it was because people described themselves as “employed but absent from work.” Without this interpretation, the unemployment rate would have been 6.9%.
The decline in the unemployment rate also came with the cessation of employment.
Just over 4 million Americans have been out of work for more than six weeks, making up 39.5% of the unemployed in January.
Workforce participation rate, or the proportion of working-age Americans who are in work or looking for one, fell to 61.4% from 61.5% in December. Participation rates have declined sharply during the pandemic, with women making up the largest proportion of leavers.
This is due to difficulties in accessing childcare as many schools remain closed for personal study.
“There is still a lot of work to be done to get back to the top job,” said Chris Low, chief economist at FHN Financial in New York.
Reciting with Lucia Mutikani; Edited by Chizu Nomiyama and Andrea Ricci