Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 313,000 new jobs in January, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday, marking the country's 89th straight month of employment gains. The unemployment rate remained at 4.1% for the fifth consecutive month.
Construction employment continues to be a bright spot, increasing by 61,000 jobs in February. The construction industry has added 185,000 jobs in the past four months.
Here are some of the reactions from economists and others on Twitter.
U.S. creates a whopping 313,000 new jobs in February, biggest gain since mid-2016. Huge gains across the board. Unemployment flat at 4.1%. January jobs raised to 239,000 from 200,000. December employment gain upped to 175,000 from 160,000.
— MarketWatch Economy (@MKTWeconomics) March 9, 2018
HOLY SCHNYCKIES +313K
— Ernie Tedeschi (@ernietedeschi) March 9, 2018
The economy: It's humming.
— Neil Irwin (@Neil_Irwin) March 9, 2018
First impression on jobs: huge pop in payrolls supported by bump in labor force participation; wage growth moderates. Preliminary take: there's still room to run in this job market!
— Jared Bernstein (@econjared) March 9, 2018
This is a confusing jobs report. US employers added the most workers since mid-2016, but hourly wages didn't increase as much as analysts had expected. Bond traders are generally taking this to be positive for growth, with yields ticking up, but the inflation conundrum remains.
— Lisa Abramowicz (@lisaabramowicz1) March 9, 2018
Average hourly wages would be $3.30 higher if they had grown at the target rate since the recession began. Follow @eliselgould for more analysis. #JobsReport pic.twitter.com/ebnKzd384h
— Economic Policy Institute (@EconomicPolicy) March 9, 2018
And it’s a puzzler for the Fed.
— Justin Wolfers (@JustinWolfers) March 9, 2018
With job growth this strong and unemployment this low, it’s hard not to agree that they should be concerned about inflation.
...but wage growth remains so weak that it suggests inflation will stay well below target.
Manufacturing jobs up 1.8% y/y, ahead of economy-wide gain of 1.6% y/y. That's a change from absolute losses in recent years. pic.twitter.com/xRV9VXk0rb
— Jed Kolko (@JedKolko) March 9, 2018
313,000 jobs were added to the US #economy last month.
— IWPR (@IWPResearch) March 9, 2018
Women gained 184,000 jobs last month and men gained 129,000 jobs. Women gained a share of 59% of all jobs created in February. #JobsReport
This bit of the jobs report would not suggest we are in desperate need of tariffs and a trade war. pic.twitter.com/xBhHrFD1IS
— Ben White (@morningmoneyben) March 9, 2018
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