January Employment Data

The Department of Labor issued its January employment data today.  The big numbers:  157,000 jobs added, with the unemployment rate at 7.9% (from 7.8% the previous month).  But perhaps the more important figures from the report were revisions in previous months' data, with significant uptick.  The DOL revised its November data to show that 247,000 jobs were added in that month and 296,000 jobs in December--an additional 127,000 jobs than initially reported in those two months.  Most sectors saw job gains, with one of the exceptions being public-sector jobs, which continues to be a drag on employment.  The number of discouraged workers also dropped by 255,000 in a non-seasonally adjusted comparison to last year.  All in all, that's not bad, particularly the previous months' revisions.

-JH