U.S. job growth returned vigorously, beating past expectations in January as the economy came roaring back despite the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.

According to the Labor Department’s monthly report released on Friday, January payrolls rose by 467,000, beating most economists’ forecasts.

The unemployment rate, which is calculated based on a separate survey, ticked up slightly to 4% (the increase is largely because the labor force participation rate climbed to 62.2%, the highest level since the pandemic began in February 2020).

We created 467,000 jobs in January. That’s more than 6.6 million jobs since I took office. 2021 was the greatest year of job creation under any president in history, tweeted President Biden.

Job gains were broad-based, with the most significant increases in leisure and hospitality (151,000), professional and business services (86,000), and retail (61,000).

Economists expect job growth to climb even higher in the coming months as the omicron variant now seems to be fast disappearing into the rearview mirror.

Readers Bureau

Edited by Jesus Chan

Do you want to add feedback to this story?

Please add a comment in the box below or send an email to info@thereadersbureau.com,  Call us at 201-500-7715