The number of Americans working surged unexpectedly in January, despite the Omicron surge.
January non-farm payrolls surged to 467,000, the Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows. That’s almost four times higher than the expected 125,000.
The impressive beat looks even better when we take into account that the investment bank Goldman Sachs expected a 250,000 drop in payrolls.
BREAKING! US non-farm #payrolls rose by 467K in January, almost four times the expected number (125K). Also, the December number was revised to 510K from 199K. #JOBS! pic.twitter.com/qCODdC5MwW
— jeroen blokland (@jsblokland) February 4, 2022
On the other hand, the unemployment was little changed at 4%, above the expected 3.9%.
The BLS also revised the numbers for December, from a gain of 199,000 to 510,000. The unrevised numbers were a huge miss, as economists expected an increase of 422,000 but, the revision suggests the job market fared far better.
BLS also revised November’s numbers, from a gain of 249,000 to 647,000.
While these numbers are good news for the economy, some investors fear that high employment numbers could fuel inflation. This could make the Fed raise rates sooner.
U.S. treasuries shoot up higher on the news, as markets upped their rate hike predictions.
US 10y yields jump after blowout US NFP report which looks inflationary: Huge job gain: Jan Payrolls Increase 467,000, higher than all economists expected, & vs consensus of 125k. Revisions Add 709,000 Jobs in Prior 2mths. Average Hourly Earnings Rise 5.7% YoY. pic.twitter.com/VzcNnYQfUo
— Holger Zschaepitz (@Schuldensuehner) February 4, 2022