Business Journalist, BBC News
The growth of jobs in the United States slowed down last month, but unemployment remained low, in a solid, if more muffled economy.
Employers added 143,000 jobs in January, while the unemployment rate slipped to 4% from 4.1%, according to a report of the Ministry of Labor.
The data set the stage while US President Donald Trump enters the White House, promising a large earthquake, including a reduction in state consumption and federal labor, mass migrant deportations and larger tariffs on many goods coming to the United States.
The proposals raised the uncertainty of the road before us the world’s largest economy.
Last month, the US Central Bank cited questions about the future because it announced that it would not reduce interest rates, hitting a break after a series of decreas they started in September.
Jerome Powell’s federal reserve president also said the bank concerns were silenced due to the labor market.
Despite the slowdown of job growth last month, analysts said that they had not seen much in the report to cause new worries, noticing the audit of earlier data indicating that the growth growth in November and December was stronger than it was estimated before.
“The number of wages of lower than expected January more than compensated for an increase in audits by November and December and a decline in the unemployment rate,” said Ellen Zentner, the main economic strategist for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management.
“Those who hoped for a soft report that will return the Fed in a speed cutting mode did not get it.”
Employers in the health care and retail sector have encouraged job gains in January, which came while hitting the country by fires and winter storms.
The average wage per hour increased by 4.1%, compared to January 2023, the report said.
The report was influenced by annual audits, which include more detailed data on job growth.
They showed less increasing jobs in 2024 as a whole than it was estimated before. US stocks have been slightly changed after the news.
The spokeswoman for the Karolina Leavitt White House said the report showed that “the economy of Biden is far worse than anyone thought, and emphasizes the need for the Pro-Rasta Trump policy.”
Despite the audits, the latest report suggested that the labor market was more stable than a few months ago, said Samuel Tombs, the main American economist for Pantheon Macroeconomics, who said he no longer expected Fed to reduce rates in March.
“All said, the economy has created less jobs than we thought earlier last year, but the trend no longer seems worse,” he said.
He warned that the company continues to expect “Relaps” in job growth, given the muffled level of employment indicators and elevated uncertainty about the economic policies of the new administration. “
