Job growth in the United States during January shattered expectations, with non-farm payrolls surging by 304,000 despite a partial government shutdown that proved the longest in history.
Figures released by the U.S. Labor Department showed the unemployment rate ticked higher to 4%, a level where it had last been in June, a likely effect of the shutdown, according to the department. However, officials said federal workers generally were counted as employed during the period because they received pay during the survey week of Jan. 12. On balance, federal government employment actually rose by 1,000.
Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had expected stateside payrolls to rise by 170,000 and the unemployment rate to hold steady at 3.9%
January marked 100 months in a row of positive job creation, by far the longest streak on record.
However, all was not cheery, as data revisions pushed previous numbers lower.
December’s big initially reported gain of 312,000 was knocked all the way down to 222,000, while November’s rose from 176,000 to 196,000. On net, that took the two months down by 70,000, bringing the three-month average to 241,000. That’s still well above the trend that would be common this far into an economic expansion dating back nine and a half years.
