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Economy Gains 225,000 Jobs in January; Unemployment Unchanged at 3.6%

The U.S. economy gained 225,000 jobs in January, and the unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 3.6%, according to figures released Friday morning by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Over the year, wages were up 3.1%. This was very tepid wage growth for this level of unemployment, and shows the labor market has not reached full employment.

In response to the January job numbers, AFL-CIO Chief Economist William Spriggs tweeted:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last month's biggest job gains were in construction (44,000), health care (36,000), leisure and hospitality (36,000), transportation and warehousing (28,000) and professional and business services (21,000). Manufacturing declined (-12,000). Employment in other major industries, including mining, wholesale trade, retail trade, information, financial activities and government, changed little over the month.

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for teenagers (12.2%), blacks (6.0%), Hispanics (4.3%), adult men (3.3%), adult women (3.2%), whites (3.1%) and Asians (3.0%) showed little or no change in January.

The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was unchanged in January and accounted for 19.9% of the unemployed.