It has been a positive January for those seeking Employment as businesses have added an impressive 227,000 Jobs in the first month of 2017. Amidst the many controversies that have plagued the early days of Trump's presidency, the economy has been a bright spot. One of the strongest points from the Republican's campaign was a promise to improve the U.S. economy by bringing jobs back to the States.
The surge can also be partially attributed to the fact that there are more Americans than there have been in a while seeking employment.
What do the numbers say?
The unemployment rate actually wafted up from 4.7% to 4.8%, according to the Labor Department. Nevertheless, financial experts were not forecasting such a strong January, with 237,000 finding a job. The consensus estimate called for 175,000 new jobs being filled in the month, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Federal, state, and local government jobs were reduced by 10,000.
The news helped to drive the stock market higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average surging about 183 points, or 0.9% by mid-afternoon Friday.
The S&P 500 Index gained 16 points, or 0.7%, while the Nasdaq Composite posted a 26.7-point boost, or 0.5%. Many of these jobs came in construction, retail, and financial services.
Are workers making more money?
Average hourly wages only surged three cents to $26, or 2.5% compared to a 2.9% increase in December. The figure was below analysts' expectations of a 2.9% surge in at least 20 states due to minimum wages growing in these places.
All of the goods-producing sectors were better, according to Stuart Hoffman, chief economist at PNC Financial Services Group. The sluggish three cents added to average hourly wages surprised due to the fact that these sectors often pay higher salaries, with construction companies bolstering their staff with 36,000 workers, while manufacturers added 5,000, and mining and logging added 4,000.
January was especially strong, but expect this figure to settle down to around 160,000 jobs a month for the rest of 2017.