US Adds More Jobs than Expected, Creates 304,000 jobs in January

• US Adds More Jobs than Expected, Creates 304,000 jobs in January

Businesses in the United States of America created more jobs than expected in the first month of the year.

Employers added 304,000 jobs in January despite government shutdown, the Labour Department reported on Friday. This exceeded analysts expectations and rose more than the average growth – 223,000 jobs – recorded in 2018.

An obviously happy Donald Trump tweeted “Jobs, Jobs, Jobs!” after the report was released.

The unemployment rate, however, ticked up to 4 per cent, a level last seen in June. Likely reflecting the effect of the shutdown, according to the labour department.

While December Jobs numbers were revised down from the initial 312,000 jobs reported to 222,000, and November numbers rose from 176,000 jobs to 196,000.

“Certainly, the economy has slowed, and that will undoubtedly be apparent in other data in the coming weeks. Still, the jobs market remains a bright spot,” Jim Baird, chief investment officer for Plante Moran Financial Advisors, said in a note. “Employers are still hiring at a strong pace. That’s good news for the consumer sector, and ultimately good news for the economy.”

Wage growth remained largely unchanged at 3.2 per cent, in line with the past few months and around the highest levels of recovery.

The Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged despite saying the economy remained solid and will continue to expand in 2019. The uncertainty in the Euro-area, China’s slowdown and complex Brexit negotiation weighed on Fed’s rates decision during the first monetary policy meeting of the year.

The U.S dollar rose across the board to close at 1.1452 against the Euro single currency.