December US jobs data
- Prior was +62.1K
- Unemployment rate 6.7% vs 6.8% expected
- Prior unemployment rate 6.7%
- Participation rate 61.5% vs 61.5% expected
- Prior participation rate 61.5%
More details
- Underemployment rate 11.7% vs 12.0% prior
- Average hourly earnings +0.8% m/m vs +0.2% expected
- Average hourly earnings +5.1% y/y vs +4.5% expected
- Average weekly hours 34.7 vs 34.8 expected
- Two month net revision +135K
- Change in private payrolls -95K vs +25K expected
- Change in manufacturing payrolls +38K vs +15K expected
- The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) 3.96 million vs 3.93 million prior
- Leisure/hospitality jobs -498K
- Education -62K
- Retail +120K
The headline was poor but the positive revisions over the last two months mitigated the damage. The earnings numbers are interesting but I'm inclined to think that's due to lower wage workers losing their jobs. Clearly, many people lost work in leisure and hospitality as that industry braced for a rough winter.