The Top 10 Takeaways From The February Jobs Report

In February 2024, the U.S. economy added 275,000 jobs.  However, the details are mixed.

Here are the top 10 takeaways from the jobs report:

1)     The U.S. economy has added 0.7 million jobs over the past 12 months.

2)     The number of unemployed increased by 0.5 million over the past year.

3)     The number of unemployed (over 27 weeks) increased by 496K YoY.

4)     The number of part-time workers increased by 300K YoY.

5)     The average weekly hours worked are stable over the four months.

6)     Average weekly earnings increased 3.7% YoY.

7)     Average hourly earnings increased 4.1% YoY.  Strong!

8)     Employment in goods-producing categories has increased by 200K YoY.

9)     Private services employ 1.9 million more workers over 12 months.

10)   The Government sector employment has grown by 600K jobs over the   

        past year.

Negative Revisions:

Over the past year, the BLS report has been too optimistic, and the negative revisions are quite dramatic. See the chart below. 

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