By Manuel Gutierrez, Consulting Economist to NKBA
The jobs market continues to astound economists. Most projected fewer jobs created in January compared to December, but a total of 517,000 jobs were added — the highest since last July — bringing the unemployment rate to a 50-year low of 3.4 percent.
- Construction added 25,000 jobs, bringing the total to 7.88 million — a record high. Employment in the sector is 3.6 percent higher than its pre-pandemic level.
- Overall wage increases slowed in January, with hourly wages up 5.1 percent YOY — the smallest growth in more than a year. Construction, however, leads with the highest increase, 6.2 percent, YOY. Manufacturing saw 5.3 percent wage growth.
- Hospitality led all sectors, adding 113,000 jobs in January, 20 percent of the total, but is still nearly 500,000 short of its pre-pandemic peak of 14.45 million jobs.
- Professional & Business Services added 82,000 jobs, while Health Care swelled by 58,000, Retail increased by 30,000 and Education employment rolls rose by 26,000 new jobs.
- Interior Designer jobs rose to 55,800 in December (the latest month available for this breakout), up 5.1 percent YOY. Even though the number of female and male designers each rose by the same 200 workers in December from November, male employment is up 3,200 YOY, while female designers are up 1,900 against December 2021. Women make up 66 percent of interior designers, down from 76 percent in 2015.
- Recent well-publicized layoffs in sectors like tech are not yet reflected in the data, but 185,000 persons applied for unemployment benefits in the latest week — the fewest in almost a year, and also near a historic low.
