US January Employment Data: Non-farm Payrolls Growth Slows, Below Expectations

According to the latest report released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on Friday, the US job market slowed down in January, and employment did not rise as expected.

Employment growth fell sharply compared to December.

Non-farm payrolls increased by 143,000 in January, a significant decrease from the upwardly revised 307,000 in December. This result is also below economists' expectations, as the market had originally anticipated an addition of 169,000 jobs this month, according to Dow Jones data. Despite the slowdown in employment growth, the unemployment rate still edged down slightly to 4%.

Employment data for 2024 revised significantly

The report also includes a revision of the benchmark for employment data in 2024, downwardly adjusting previous data. These revisions indicate that previous estimates of the rise in employment may have been overly optimistic, suggesting that the expansion of the labor market may not be as strong as originally anticipated.

The first employment report during Trump's new term

The January employment report is the first set of employment data released by President Trump after taking office on January 20th. His government has promised to promote economic reform, including tax cuts, policies to stimulate economic growth, and a more aggressive trade strategy, such as imposing tariffs on major trading partners. It is not yet clear how these policies will affect the future job market.

Despite the latest data showing a weak start to the year, economists and policymakers will closely monitor future employment reports to determine whether the slowdown is just a temporary phenomenon or whether the labor market is facing broader trend changes.

This article U.S. January employment data: Non-farm employment growth slowed, below expectations first appeared on Chain News ABMedia.