2018 kicked off with a strong start for job creation in the United States, with companies adding 234,000 jobs in January, beating analysts’ expectations, which were of only 185,000.
The job opportunities were largely concentrated in service-related industries, which contributed 212,000 jobs. Within this sector, some of the best-paying industries achieved strong gains: trade, transport and utilities amounted to 51,000, education and health services grew 47,000, and professional and business services contributed 46,000. Entertainment and hospitality services grew by 46,000.
On the merchandise side, manufacturing industries added 12,000 jobs, while the construction sector added 9,000, despite the relatively slow month of the industry. According to analysts, 2018 is on track to be the eighth year in a row where the economy creates more than two million jobs, and companies are likely to be unable to find workers to fill all open positions. The unemployment rate was 4.1%, and the overall economic growth was strong, with the Federal Reserve in Atlanta forecasting an economic growth of 4.2% for the first quarter of 2018.
The FOMC finished its two-day meeting on Wednesday, with the market not expecting a rate change until March. Nevertheless, the Commission can, through Janet Yellen’s concluding remarks, refer to future actions. The report also comes two days before the Non-Farm Payrolls report, which is closely monitored by the government. A month is expected to add 242,000 jobs to the government’s total of 148,000 of all non-farm gains.
According to analysts, the strong ADP January report indicates that a weak December reading on official non-farm labor measures was not the beginning of any serious downfall in labor market conditions. In terms of the size of companies, the report stated that new employees were distributed equally. Medium-sized companies (50 to 499) topped 91,000, while large firms added 85,000 and small firms hired 58,000.
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