HICKEY Jobs Report Update – February 2022

Hickey Jobs Report Update – U.S. surprisingly beat expectations by adding 678,000 jobs in February 2022

Without missing a beat, the U.S. economy continued a streak of robust job growth across industries in February by adding 678,000 workers to the nation’s payrolls.  As the hiring ramped up, the American jobless rate dropped to 3.8 percent, according to the latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Jobs Report.

Known as the U.S. Jobs Report, the latest release of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics January 2021 Employment Situation Summary showed significant gains in February. With these new hires, the nation has already added over 1.1 million new jobs in 2022 alone. 

Just like the previous month, the labor agency revised the estimations from the last two months, further adding to the hiring trend. For December, total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 588,000, which is a boost of 78,000 from the previous estimates. Meanwhile, January numbers were revised up by 14,000, thus resetting the estimate to 481,000 new jobs in the month.

Strongest gains were in Leisure & Hospitality, Professional & Business Services, Health Care, and Construction, among others.

The nation’s unemployment rate is now down to 3.8% after ticking back up above 4% the previous month. Little change was seen in the overall labor force participation rate, which currently sits at 62.3%.  Both figures are still chasing pre-pandemic levels of 3.5% and 63.4%, respectively.

Overall, wage inflation slowed down in the previous month following a 5.1% increase over the previous year.  Wider inflationary concerns across the economy are still rising as the latest consumer price index figures of 7.5%, meaning wage increases are not keeping up with market price fluctuations.  To note, these estimates and surveys were conducted ahead of the war in Ukraine.

Key Industries

Leisure and Hospitality

Leisure and hospitality increased payrolls by 179,000 in February. The largest gains came from food services and drinking places at 124,000 new jobs, while accommodations added 28,000 jobs to their payrolls. While continuing to make great strides, the industry is still 9% below pre-pandemic employment levels.

Professional and Business Services

Continuing their pace ahead of pre-pandemic employment counts, professional and business services added 95,000 jobs in February. The industry was led by temporary help services with 36,000 new jobs. Overall, the industry now employees 596,000 more American workers than in February 2020.

Manufacturing

Staying strong, the manufacturing industry added 36,000 jobs in February.  Durable goods added 20,000 jobs, with nondurable goods businesses following with 16,000 new jobs.  The overall gains were offset by a loss in motor vehicles and parts of 18,000 jobs.  Reaching closer to pre-pandemic levels, industry employment is down 1.4% from February 2020.

Retail Trade

The dynamic retail trade industry added 37,000 jobs in February, primarily led by building material and garden supply stores with 12,000 new employees.  Remarkably to many, the industry has more than 100,000 workers than pre-pandemic levels.

Transportation and Warehousing

Over the previous month, the red-hot transportation and warehousing industry added another 48,000 jobs in February. Warehousing and storage continued to lead the way with 11,000 new jobs in the previous months. That latest gain means the sector is now 420,000 jobs above pre-pandemic levels. 

Construction

Following a stagnant start to 2022, the construction industry added 60,000 jobs in February.  Industry growth was primarily led by specialty trade contractors increasing payrolls by 24,000.  In total, the industry is slightly below pre-pandemic levels by 11,000 workers.

Other Notable Industries

In other notable industries, financial businesses added 35,000 jobs, social assistance organizations increased employment by 21,000, wholesale trade employed an additional 18,000, and the mining industry brought on an additional 9,000 workers.  

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 reports, along with how we support our clients with dynamic labor analytics, we would be excited to connect one of our location strategy experts: