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Jobs report January 2025:

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A hiring sign is displayed in the window of a Chipotle on August 22, 2024 in Alexandria, Virginia. 

Anna Rose Layden | Getty Images

Job creation was weaker than expected in January, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.

Nonfarm payrolls rose by a seasonally adjusted 143,000 for the month, down from an upwardly revised 307,000 in December and below the 169,000 forecast from Dow Jones. The unemployment rate nudged lower to 4%.

The report also featured significant benchmark revisions to the 2024 totals that saw substantial downward changes to the previous payrolls level.

The revisions, which the BLS does each year, reduced the jobs count by 589,000 in the 12 months through March 2024. A preliminary adjustment back in August 2024 had indicated 818,000 fewer jobs.

The level of those reporting at work, as computed in the household survey, soared by 2.23 million, the product of annual adjustments for population and immigration in the country. The household survey happens separately from the establishment survey used to tally total jobs.

Job growth for January was concentrated in health care (44,000), retail (34,000) and government (32,000). The total gain for the month was slightly off the average 166,000 in 2024, the BLS said. Social assistance added 22,000 while mining-related industries lost 8,000.

The unemployment rate moved lower as labor force participation increased, rising to 62.6%, up 0.1 percentage point from December. A broader measure that includes discouraged workers as well as those holding part-time jobs for economic reasons held steady at 7.5%.

Markets showed little reaction to the report, with stock market futures modestly positive and Treasury yields higher as well.

While some economists had expected that the California wildfires would reduce the job count, the bureau said they “had no discernible effect” on the total.

The report is the first jobs count since President Donald Trump took office on Jan. 20 with plans to cut taxes, boost growth and level the global playing field on trade by slapping heavy tariffs on the biggest U.S. trading partners.

Federal Reserve officials are watching the numbers closely as they contemplate their next monetary policy moves. The Fed cut its benchmark rate by a full percentage point in the latter part of 2024, but policymakers of late have been advocating a more cautious pace ahead as they evaluate policy ramifications.

—The unemployment rate fell to 4% in January. The headline on an earlier version misstated the move.

Economics

America’s Supreme Court tackles a thorny voting-rights case

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Louisiana v Callais, a case the Supreme Court heard on March 24th, contains a political puzzle. Why is the solidly Republican state defending a congressional map that cost the party a seat in 2024—and will likely keep that seat in Democratic hands after the 2026 midterms, when the fight to control the House of Representatives could be very close?

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Economics

Consumer confidence in where the economy is headed hits 12-year low

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Shoppers walk near a Nordstrom store at the Westfield UTC shopping center on Jan. 31, 2025 in San Diego, California.

Kevin Carter | Getty Images

Consumer confidence dimmed further in March as the view of future conditions fell to the lowest level in more than a decade, the Conference Board reported Tuesday.

The board’s monthly confidence index of current conditions slipped to 92.9, a 7.2-point decline and the fourth consecutive monthly contraction. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for a reading of 93.5.

However, the measure for future expectations told an even darker story, with the index tumbling 9.6 points to 65.2, the lowest reading in 12 years and well below the 80 level that is considered a signal for a recession ahead.

The index measures respondents’ outlook for income, business and job prospects.

“Consumers’ optimism about future income — which had held up quite strongly in the past few months — largely vanished, suggesting worries about the economy and labor market have started to spread into consumers’ assessments of their personal situations,” said Stephanie Guichard, senior economist, Global Indicators at The Conference Board.

The survey comes amid worries over President Donald Trump’s plans for tariffs against U.S. imports, which has coincided with a volatile stock market and other surveys showing waning sentiment.

The fall in confidence was driven by a decline in those 55 or older but was spread across income groups.

In addition to the general pessimism, the outlook for the stock market slid sharply, with just 37.4% of respondents expecting higher equity prices in the next year. That marked a 10 percentage point drop from February and was the first time the view turned negative since late-2023.

The view on the labor market also weakened, with those expecting more jobs to be available falling to 16.7%, while those expecting fewer jobs rose to 28.5%. The respective February readings were 18.8% and 26.6%.

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Economics

A shambolic leak reveals Team Trump’s contempt for allies

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MANY KNOW the mortification of sending the wrong text message to the wrong person. But when the fat thumb is that of America’s national security adviser, Mike Waltz, the message is a detailed military plan to bomb Yemen and the recipient is a prominent journalist, the error is not just a cause of shame but potentially a serious breach of national security.

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