US employment growth rebounds below expectations in January

US non-farm payrolls increased by 49,000 in January, after December’s drop of 227,000, the first negative figure in eight months was downwardly revised from initial 140,000, following renewed restrictions

US employment growth rebounded less than expected in January, although many analysts were betting for the figure up to 200,000 and accompanied with previous month’s job losses, adds to the argument for additional relief money from the government to help recovery from coronavirus pandemic.

The unemployment dropped to 6.3% in January from 6.7% previous month, with identical forecast, understated by people misclassifying themselves as being employed but absent from work.

The employment report highlights the need for additional relief money from the government, as millions of people are jobless, while a number of Americans have permanently lost their jobs.
Employment remains below its peak in February 2020 by 9 million jobs, with expectations that it would not return to its pre-pandemic level before 2024.

President Biden is pushing US Congress to pass a $1.9 trillion recovery package, which has been opposed by a number of Republican lawmakers, worried about swelling national debt.

Disappointing labor data deflated strong optimism that the US economic recovery will speed up, boosted by recent solid figures from manufacturing sector, strong hiring in the private sector and declining jobless claims.

The US dollar pulled back from its new two-month high against the basket of major currencies, while riskier assets, such as Euro, British pound benefited from weaker greenback.