Job creation in the United States likely slowed sharply in January in the face of Covid-19 infections in the country, affecting activity in businesses that rely on physical contact, in a temporary setback for the recovery of the labor market.
There is even a strong possibility that the economy has closed vacancies in the past month with lower-wage workers in sectors such as health and leisure, who typically do not have paid sick leave, bearing the brunt of winter with the omnipresent variant of the coronavirus.
The Department of Labor will publish its employment report this Friday (4). Economists and White House officials cautioned against drawing too many conclusions from the data. Federal Reserve officials, who are expected to start raising rates next month, are likely to set the report aside.
“The labor market setback and lost jobs are temporary. The danger of inflation is paramount in the minds of Fed officials,” said Christopher Rupkey, chief economist at FWDBONDS.
The survey is expected to show 150,000 job openings outside the agricultural sector last month, after 199,000 in December, according to a Reuters poll of economists.
Part of the slowdown will reflect challenges in finding workers, with 10.9 million job openings at the end of December.
Estimates ranged from closing 400,000 jobs to creating 385,000. A job closure would be the first since December 2020.
Source: Folha
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