January’s headline employment number came in stronger than economists’ estimates for the month, as employers added 225,000 workers, versus expectations of an increase of 165,000, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey. On a rolling three-month basis, employers are adding an average of 211,000 workers per month. Net revisions to the previous two months added 7,000 jobs. Manufacturing lost 12,000 jobs during the month. Construction added 44,000 jobs while Education and Health Services added 72,000 jobs for the month. Private hiring, which excludes government agencies, also came in stronger than estimates, adding 206,000 jobs versus expectations of an increase of 155,000. The unemployment rate ticked up to 3.6%, just off the lowest level since 1969. Additionally, the labor force participation rate, the proportion of the population that is in the labor force, moved up to 63.4%, impressive given this level of employment. One of the most watched numbers in the data, Average Hourly Earnings, came in below economists’ estimates at 0.2% for the month, versus expectations of a 0.3% increase; however, year-over-year wage growth moved up to 3.1% thanks to a big upward revision in November. Average hourly earnings increased $0.07 versus last month to $28.44 per hour. Average weekly hours remained at 34.3 hours. The so-called U6 underemployment rate, which includes part-time workers who would prefer a full-time position and people who want work but have given up looking, moved up two ticks to 6.9%, after posting the all-time record low last month. Market participants watch this number to monitor slack in the labor market. 10-year U.S. Treasuries traded as high as 2.78% in early 2019, and started today’s trading at 1.64%. Treasuries sold off initially but have moved 1-2 basis points lower following the release:
Yields moved up and down following the release but are now little changed:
Below is a link to the full statistical summary provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics:*
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.b.htm
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