January 2015 job numbers came in with a roar (all data are stated on a seasonally adjusted basis):
- 257,000 Net New Jobs in January 2015 (preliminary
- 1.009 million net new jobs in the past three months – the best three months of job growth since February 1996
- 3.207 million net new jobs in the past 12 months – the best 12 month pace of job growth since June 1998
In addition, the prior two months of job gains were adjusted significantly upwards with November 2014 going from an increase of 353,000 to 423,000 (70,000 net gain) and December from 252,000 to 329,000 (up 77,000). The first graph shows the roller coaster of job losses and gains since 2007 and the second one the net job change in the prior three months.
Details in the jobs report included:
- The retail sector added 46,000 jobs in January
- Construction employment increased by 39,000 with 13,000 of those in the residential side and 7,000 in non-residential
- Health care grew 38,000 jobs with 13,000 from added employment in physician’s offices, 10,000 in hospitals and 7,000 in nursing and residential care facilities
- Manufacturing added 22,000 – 7,000 in motor vehicles and parts and 4,000 in wood products. Overall, manufacturing gained 228,000 new jobs in the prior 12 months
- Financial activities grew by 26,000 with 50 percent coming from insurance carriers and related activities and 5,000 in the securities component
- Professional and technical services were up 33,000 of which 8,000 came from the architectural and engineering services side
- Food services and drinking places grew by 35,000
- Though employment in the government sector was down 10,000 in January when compared to December, it had a net gain of 80,000 jobs in the prior 12 months
To drill down on individual employment data available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics click http://data.bls.gov/pdq/querytool.jsp?survey=ce
Jobs are everything – particularly to housing sales, and 2015 is quickly out of the gate.
Thinks are looking up.
Ted