(BLS) US total nonfarm payroll employment increased by a robust 467,000 in January, better than the estimated jump of 150,000.
The unemployment rate retained a 4.0% rate in January, remaining above estimates of 3.9% and a pre-pandemic level of 3.5%.
The unemployment rate has now fallen by 2.4% over the year, with the total number of unemployed persons down by 3.7 million.
The labor force participation rate held steady at 62.2% in January, while the employment-population ratio remained the same at 59.7%. Both levels are still below February 2020, when it was 63.4% and 61.2%, respectively.
A total of 5.7 million Americans were not in the labor force but currently want a job, down by 1.3 million over the year, but the remaining 708,000 elevated from the pandemic levels.
Following the employment gains in January, nonfarm payrolls have risen by 19.1 million from April 2020, although it remains 1.9% or 2.9 million below the pre-pandemic levels.
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