Omicron appears to have had little impact on hiring over the past three months as employers added 467,000 in January, while the combined November and December jobs growth was revised from 448,000 to almost 1.2 million.
Despite a large 5.7% jump in average hourly wages, real wage growth declined. When adjusted for inflation, hourly wages have dropped by 1.3% over the past year and real weekly earnings dropped by 2.1%.
Yet, the 5.7% is the fastest wage growth since 1982 when inflation was 6.2%—it is currently running at 7%.
Economy has recovered 87% of the jobs lost to the COVID pandemic. At the current pace of job growth, all the jobs will be regained by July 2022.
Annual survey benchmarking and changes to seasonal adjustment factors also impacted the report, which may result in softer reported job growth next month.
Four industries accounted for 75% of the job growth:
- Leisure and hospitality (+151,000);
- Professional and business services (+86,000);
- Retail trade (+61,400); and
- Transportation and warehousing (+54,200).
Most other industries were little changed.
Outlook: Quit rates remain near record highs, and when combined with inflation, will maintain upward pressure on wage growth for the remainder of the year.