The US employment report last December showed continued strong employment growth, but wage growth slowed. It gave the Fed room to slow the pace of rate hikes while eliminating the possibility of an imminent recession.
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The average hourly wage increased by 0.3% from the previous month (market expectations increased by 0.4%), and increased by 4.6% from the same month last year. Both figures for November were revised downwards. The Fed will likely welcome a slowdown in average hourly earnings growth. Officials see wage pressures, particularly in the services sector, as a major obstacle to returning inflation to the 2% target.
Employment growth was led by sectors such as healthcare, social assistance, entertainment and hospitality, and construction. There was little change in some sectors from the previous month.
“The Fed doesn’t want jobs to slow down. “It’s a slowdown in inflation because we’re worried about continued inflation,” he said. The statistic “could have made it more likely that the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) in February and March would raise interest rates by 25 basis points rather than 50 basis points (bp = 0.01%)). ” he said.
Bloomberg Economics (BE) economists Ana Wong and Eliza Winger said: “December’s nonfarm numbers look like Goldilocks, not too hot, not too cold, even as the labor force grows. “Strong employment has pushed unemployment down, but wage growth has slowed. Labor market momentum weakened slightly towards the end of last year, but may be picking up again.”
Although job openings remain high and layoffs generally low, weakness in the labor market is beginning to emerge in some sectors, such as technology and real estate. According to the latest statistics, employment fell in non-durable goods manufacturing, temporary staffing, and information processing.
Average weekly hours worked were the lowest since immediately after the coronavirus pandemic.
Earlier this week, Amazon.com Inc. announced. plans to lay off more than 18,000 workers, while real estate brokerage Compass has announced additional redundancies. The private re-employment company Challenger Gray and Christmas announced that the number of job cuts in December was down from the previous month, but up 129% from the same month last year.
Amazon is planning more than 18,000 job cuts, more than expected
The labor force participation rate rose slightly to 62.3%. The labor force participation rate for those aged 25 to 54 also increased.
According to the Family Income and Expenditure Survey, the number of employed people increased by 717,000. It was down last month.
See the table for detailed statistics.
Original title:US Hiring Solid While Wages Cool, Give Way to Slow Food (抜粋）
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