US economy adds 49,000 jobs in January — a grim sign for the jobs recovery
Friday’s January jobs report also showed that the unemployment rate fell to 6.3%, beating economists’ expectations, marking the first decrease in two months.
The return of some jobs and a lower unemployment rate are definitely good news. But the US labor market needs great news to get out of this crisis.
Friday’s report also showed the Bureau of Labor Statistics revised the data for November — when fewer jobs than thought were added, and December — when more jobs than initially reported were lost. December marked the first monthly loss of jobs since April, when the economy ground to a halt.
Since February last year, the economy is still down 9.9 million jobs.
Earlier this week, the Congressional Budget Office predicted that the number of employed workers in the United States won’t return to its pre-pandemic level until 2024.
This is a developing story. It will be updated
