Hickey Jobs Report Analysis - February, 2024
Once again, the American economy exceeded expectations in the jobs markets by adding 275,000 new workers to the nation’s payrolls in February. However, there are mixed signs in the latest data which may show cooling in the labor market as unemployment increased to 3.9 percent and wage growth slowed.
According to the latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Jobs Report, the largest job gains for February 2024 were seen in Health Care, Government, Food Services and Drinking Places, Social Assistance, Transportation, and Warehousing, among others.
As noted, the nation’s unemployment rate ticked up to 3.9 percent, an increase of 0.2 percent from the previous month. While still lower than the Federal Reserve’s forecasted rate of 4.5 percent, the increase puts at risk the longest sub-four percent streak since 1967. In addition to the heightened jobless rate, the job estimates from the previous two months were reduced by a collective count of 167,000.
In another sign of a cooling labor market, wage growth slowed as average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls only increased by five cents to $34.57, or 0.1 percent, decreasing the annual growth rate to only 4.3 percent. This is a marked change from nearly six percent approximately two years ago.
We’re tracking these latest updates, along with labor force participation rates, wage shifts, and inflationary concerns – here are the five things you need to know from the latest U.S. Jobs Report:
The U.S. economy once again exceed expectations by adding 275,000 new jobs in February 2024. However, even with the new jobs, signs of the labor market cooling are prevalent, including a jump in the unemployment rate to 3.9 percent.
Wage growth slowed in the previous month to only 0.1 percent, a critical market metric for the Federal Reserve, particularly as YoY rate now moves to 4.3 percent.
Health care providers and government agencies were once again the leading job gaining industries, followed by bars and restaurants, and social assistance organizations.
In a positive sign for the development and infrastructure sectors, the hyper-critical construction workforce increased by 23,000 workers in February, nearly reaching 250,000 new hires for the vital sector since the beginning of 2023.
Following a slight dip at the outset of 2024, the average workweek increased by 0.1 hours to 34.3 hours in February.
For more information and insights on the latest U.S. Jobs Report, check the latest update from our Hickey Location Analytics and Incentives Team: Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Situation Summary website.
Report Summary
According to the latest U.S. Jobs Report, once again, the U.S. economy exceeded expectations by adding 275,000 jobs to Total Nonfarm Payroll employment. However, signs of the labor market cooling are prevalent, including the nation’s jobless rate slightly ticking up to 3.9 percent.
The biggest job gainers were led by recent workforce creation headliners over recent months, but also had a few new faces in the mix. Those job creation leading sectors were Health Care, Government, Food Services and Drinking Places, Social Assistance, Transportation, and Warehousing, among others.
Tempering the job growth news, the latest Jobs Report significantly revised down estimates for the previous months. December figures were reduced by 43,000 jobs, down from 333,000, and January job counts were narrowed by a whopping 124,000 from 353,000.
Over the course of the month, the labor force participation rate and employment-population rate had little movement from previous months.
Wage growth slowed at a pace below expectations as average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by only 0.1 percent, decreasing the annual growth rate to only 4.3 percent. This is a marked change from nearly six percent approximately two years ago.
Key Industries
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Leisure and Hospitality sectors had another month of significant job growth after experiencing a recent slump. Led by Food Services and Drinking Places, commonly referred to as restaurants and bars, with 42,000 new hires, the overall sector increased employment by 58,000 jobs.
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Health Care had another banner hiring month by adding 67,000 new jobs in the previous month. The sector now has an average monthly gain rate of 58,000 hires.
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Government employment maintained their job growth streak with 52,000 new workers added to payrolls, which is right at their average YoY mark.
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Led by Individual and Family Services organizations with the creation of 19,000 new jobs, the Social Assistance sector remained a hot hiring industry.
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After declining by 70,000 jobs over the past quarter, the Couriers and Messengers sector added 17,000 workers this past month. Warehousing and Storage employers once again cut another 7,000 jobs as the wider Transportation and Warehousing industry is down by 144,000 since peaking in the summer of 2022.
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The American Manufacturing sector saw a slight decrease in employment over the previous month of 4,000 workers. Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing was the leading sector of the dynamic industry by adding 4,400 new jobs.
For more information on the latest Jobs Report, including additional details on the data concepts and statistical methodologies utilized, visit the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Situation Summary website.
If you are interested in learning more about the Jobs Report, along with how we support our clients with dynamic labor analytics, we would be excited to connect you with one of our location strategy experts: