U.S. jobs creation in January, on a seasonally adjusted (SA) basis and as calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), was a strikingly good +225,000. While +225,000 was down somewhat from the +269,000 figure for January of last year, it was well ahead of 2019’s monthly average of +175,000. The weekly initial jobless claims number had been signaling that January’s labor report would be quite positive. For the week ending February 1st, initial jobless claims dropped down close to 200,000. There were a few weeks in December 2019 when it rose to or near 250,000, albeit with the GM strike as background. Nevertheless, that was temporarily worrisome. But fears about a break in America’s labor market strength have now dissipated.

The jobs increase was aided by an uptick in the participation rate, to 63.4% in January from 63.2% in December. In turn, though, the higher participation rate played a role in elevating the seasonally adjusted (SA) unemployment rate from 3.5% to 3.6%. The not seasonally adjusted (NSA) unemployment rate moved from an unusually low (i.e., for the time of year, winter) 3.4% in December 2019 to 4.0% in the kickoff month of 2019.

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