In January, in the US labor market were created more jobs than expected, according to forecasts. However, the unemployment rate unexpectedly rose, as stated in the official report released on Friday.
According to the report the Ministry of Labor of the USA, the number of employees outside the agricultural sector (Nonfarm Payroll) in January increased by 227,000 persons compared to the revised value of 157,000 in December. The published value exceeded the forecast at 175,000 jobs.
However, the US unemployment rate unexpectedly rose to 4.8% from 4.7% in the previous month. Analysts didn’t expect a change in the index.
The average hourly wage in the United States increased by 0.1% after rising 0.2% the previous month (initially, the figure for December was defined as 0.4%). Analysts had expected a growth of by 0.3%.
The increase in salaries is carefully monitored by the Fed as evidence of higher demand in the labor market and subsequent inflationary pressures.
However, the US unemployment rate rose in January to 62.9% after 62.7% in the previous month.
In addition, the number of US employees in the private non-farm payrolls rose above expectations in January, reaching 237,000 jobs, compared with the consensus forecast of 169,000 jobs.
The value of this index for December was revised to 165,000 jobs instead of the initial value of 144,000.
The number of US public sector employees fell 10,000 compared with a decrease of 8000 in December.
The average workweek in the United States in January remained unchanged at the level of 34.4 (initially in December the figure was estimated at 34.3). Analysts predicted that this value will amount to 34.3.
After the release of the report, the US dollar index was trading at 99.80 in comparison with 100.08 before the publication of the report, while EUR/USD was trading at 1.0764, compared with 1.0736 before the publication.