The U.S. Labor Market Records a Slowdown in Hiring and an Improvement in Wages in January

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released its monthly report on Friday,
detailing the performance of the labor market in January.
The data revealed a disparity between employment figures and market expectations.

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United States

China

United States

According to the report, the U.S. economy added 143,000 new jobs in January,
falling short of expectations, which had predicted an increase of 170,000 jobs.
However, December’s employment figures were revised upward to 307,000 jobs from the initially reported 256,000,
indicating stronger momentum in hiring during the previous month.

As for unemployment, the rate declined to 4%, beating expectations that anticipated it would remain at 4.1%.
This suggests that the labor market remains resilient despite the slowdown in hiring.

Regarding wages, the average hourly earnings increased by 0.5% on a monthly basis in January,
surpassing the expected rise of 0.3%.
On an annual basis, wages grew by 4.1%, exceeding forecasts that had predicted a slowdown to 3.8%.
The previous reading for December stood at 3.9%.

China

Consumer Inflation in China Rises for the First Time Since August, Driven by Lunar New Year Spending

China’s consumer inflation accelerated for the first time since August,
supported by increased household spending during the Lunar New Year holiday,
despite ongoing deflationary pressures in the world’s second-largest economy.

The National Bureau of Statistics announced on Sunday that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose
by 0.5% in January compared to the previous year,
surpassing December’s increase of 0.1% and exceeding economists’ expectations of a 0.4% rise,
according to a Bloomberg survey.

This increase was primarily driven by a surge in temporary holiday spending during the eight-day break.
Service prices rose by 0.9%, accounting for more than 50% of the total increase in consumer inflation.

Despite this temporary improvement, deflationary pressures persist,
as factory prices continued their contraction for the 28th consecutive month, declining by 2.3%.
This marks the same rate of contraction recorded in December,
highlighting ongoing challenges in China’s industrial sector.

The U.S. Labor Market Records a Slowdown in Hiring

The U.S. Labor Market Records a Slowdown in Hiring

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