Surprisingly Strong Jobs Report Hints at an Improving Labor Market
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What were the surprising job growth numbers for January?
January's job numbers were the strongest in more than a year. Plus, in South Texas, immigration raids mean half-finished houses are sitting idle and empty.
The effects of it trickle down because it affects the banks where builders and others are getting loans. It affects people who are waiting to buy homes or move into homes. It affects the material suppliers.
And the federal deficit is expected to deepen by trillions of dollars over the next decade. It's Wednesday, February 11th.
How does immigration enforcement affect the housing market in South Texas?
I'm Alex Osola for The Wall Street Journal. This is the p.m. edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories that move the world today. The delayed January jobs report is here, and it's better than investors and economists had expected. The U.S.
What sectors of the economy are contributing to job growth?
economy added 130,000 jobs in January, its strongest growth in more than a year. The unemployment rate fell to 4.3 percent from 4.4 percent. It's a sign that the labor market is shaking off its recent slump. But can it continue? For more behind the numbers, I'm joined by WSJ economics reporter Justin Layhart. Justin, the jobs numbers were more than double the 55,000 jobs economists had expected. Why were these numbers so surprising to economists?
I think because of what they had seen over the past several months, which was very, very, very slow job growth.
Can we expect job growth to continue throughout the year?
And also, we just don't expect to see very high job growth these days because we have such lower immigration to the country and the supply of workers is much lower than it was before.
What are the sectors that were doing well versus not so well?
I mean, it's mostly health care and social services. They're sort of adjacent to one another. There are other sectors that we saw growth in. Construction, that could reflect the data center construction going on. Manufacturing did a little better. But it's really health services, health services, health services, which has really been powering the job market for a long time now.
What impact does the solid jobs report have on interest rates?
And just thinking ahead to the rest of the year, can we expect this jobs growth to continue?
We have an aging population. We have more health care needs. So it is natural to expect that we're going to see demand for these health care jobs continue.
That was WSJ economics reporter Justin Layhart. Thanks so much, Justin.
Thank you.
The solid jobs report weakens the case for more interest rate cuts and made investors more confident that the Federal Reserve will keep rates on hold. Stocks rose today after the jobs report, but the major indexes surrendered their small gains in later trading. They ended flat or slightly lower. Kraft Heinz is pumping the brakes on its breakup plan. In September, the company announced that it was splitting its condiments and grocery staples businesses. Now, Kraft Heinz says that isn't happening. Its new CEO, Steve Cahillane, says he's focused on returning the business to growth next year. The company is investing hundreds of millions of dollars in marketing and product development.
We want to put 100 percent of our focus, 100 percent of our time, our people, our investment against returning the company to growth. and not be distracted by the massive amount of work that's required in the separation.
The company today announced a drop in sales for the ninth straight quarter. Shares closed up 0.4 percent.
How are immigration raids affecting home construction?
And employees of American Airlines are calling for its CEO to step down. This week, directors of American's Flight Attendance Union issued a vote of no confidence in American Airlines CEO Robert Isom. And last week, the pilots' union said it no longer believed management was improving the company's operations and financial performance. Executives at American have pledged to get the airline back on track and get delays and cancellations under control. Isom, through company representatives, declined to comment. A new estimate out from the Congressional Budget Office today projected that the annual U.S. budget deficit will worsen over the next decade. It's expected to deepen from $1.85 trillion this year to $3 trillion by 2036.
What are the broader implications of immigration enforcement on local economies?
WSJU's tax policy reporter Richard Rubin says there are three big factors behind this.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What were the surprising job growth numbers for January?
0:02–0:35
2
How does immigration enforcement affect the housing market in South Texas?
0:35–0:54
3
What sectors of the economy are contributing to job growth?
0:54–1:27
4
Can we expect job growth to continue throughout the year?
1:27–2:08
5
What impact does the solid jobs report have on interest rates?
2:08–3:30
6
How are immigration raids affecting home construction?
3:30–4:16
7
What are the broader implications of immigration enforcement on local economies?
4:16–5:10
8
What is the fallout from the Epstein files on the 2028 Olympics?
5:10–12:05
Speakers
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