WASHINGTON - Since last March, the Federal Reserve has been on a mission to cool the job market to help curb the nation’s worst inflation bout in 40 years. The market isn't cooperating. The U.S. Labor Department reported Feb. 3 that the job market had added 517,000 jobs in December pushing down the unemployment rate to 3.4%, the lowest since 1969. The gains left economists asking why the Fed’s interest rate hikes - eight times since March - haven’t slowed hiring in the face on a looming recession. The market is good for workers, but accelerated wage growth has contributed to high inflation. January’s hiring crossed a broad base of industries: Restaurants added 99,000 workers; business services jobs 82,000; governments 74,000; health care 58,000; retailers 30,000; construction 25,000; and manufacturing 19,000. Economists had estimated the economy would only add 185,000 in January. “This is a labor market on heat,” said Seema Shah of Principal Asset Management. It would be difficult, she suggested, “to see the Fed stop raising rates and entertain ideas of rate cuts when there is such explosive economic news coming in." (The AP 02/03/23) A surprising burst of US hiring in January: 517,000 jobs | AP News
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