Kansas City Jobs Report

5 Things to Know About the National Jobs Report

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the US unemployment rate rose to 4% in January from 3.9% in December, with 304,000 jobs added. This is the hundredth consecutive month of job growth for the US, a record-breaking number, though unemployment has slowly ticked upward since November of 2018 when it hit a low of 3.7%.

Regionally, the Bureau of Labor Statistics breaks down the state and metro unemployment rates one month behind the national breakdown. Those numbers will be released mid-month every month.

According to The Burea of Labor Statistics, the impact of the partial federal government shutdown can be seen in the unemployment rate ticking up to 4%, with the number of unemployed persons edging up to 6.5 million. The number of workers among those who reported being “temporarily unemployed” increased by 175,000. However, despite the shutdown, private sector employers continued their hiring streak. Job gains occurred in the leisure and hospitality, construction, and health care verticals, amongst other heavy hitters such as professional and business services.

Here are 3 other things to know about January’s jobs report:

1. Worker Shortages: The Wall Street Journal estimates there are around 6.89 million job openings in the US, but according to January’s latest unemployment numbers, there are only 6.5 million unemployed individuals to fill them. On top of that, “job leavers” – defined by the BLS as workers who quit or voluntarily left their previous jobs and immediately began looking for other employment – have risen over the past 12 months. To learn more about the current worker shortage, and how to both find and retain your talent, download our latest White Paper here.

2. Wage Growth: Average hourly earnings increased by 3-cents in January, following a 10-cent gain in December. According to The New York Times, wages and salaries rose 3.1% in the final 3 months of 2018, a significant increase after lagging behind the health of the economy for all of 2017 and much of 2018. Employers can expect to continue to see wages increase throughout 2019.

3. The Aging Population & Healthcare: Healthcare continues to be a leading job growth contributor month-over-month, with 42,000 jobs added in January. As the Boomer generation ages and requires increasing medical services, healthcare is expected to continue being a top contributor to job growth in 2019.