On February 1st, the BLS released yet another report with jobs added as nonfarm payroll employment rose by 157,000 in January with a relatively untouched unemployment rate of 7.9%, the seventh consecutive month in which more than 100,000 jobs have been added to the national economy.
According to the report, 166,000 private sector jobs were generated last month, as a majority of private sectors hired new employees.
“The economy has now added private sector jobs for 35 straight months, and a total of 6.1 million jobs have been added over that period,” said Alan Krueger, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. “In 2012, private businesses added 2.2 million payroll jobs.”
“The Employment Situation – January 2013” report also included benchmark revisions, an annual practice. As a result, 335,000 more jobs were created in 2012 than originally reported.
As joblessness decreased, income levels rose, another positive indication of the nation’s present economic situation. According to the BLS, private nonfarm payroll employees’ average hourly earnings have risen by 2.1 percent since January 2012.
A recent Department of Commerce report also published similar findings, as Americans’ personal income increased by 2.6 percent in December – the largest monthly upsurge in revenue since December 2004.
Still, 12.3 million Americans are currently without work. Nearly 5 million Americans have been unemployed for 27 weeks or more. And the national jobless rate rose slightly last month, from 7.8 to 7.9 percent.
To significantly lower the unemployment rate, roughly 250,000 new jobs must be created on a monthly basis, according to some economists’ estimates.
Although such monthly job creation will likely not be recorded in the near future, employment did rise in recent months, as 603,000 new jobs were added to the economy last quarter, according to benchmark revisions.
If this pace of job growth continues, the total number of unemployed Americans will decline to 9.9 million by the end of 2013.
