By Mike Sunnucks | Rose Law Group Reporter
The U.S. economy added 467,000 jobs in January, according to new government data.
Economists had expected the monthly U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to report a 150,000 jobs gain and 3.9% unemployment rate.
The national jobless rate did tick up to 4 % from 3.9% in December 2021, according to BLS
The government jobs report is a marked difference from the 301,000 private sector jobs reported lost by a January jobs report from payroll firm ADP.
It also comes as a substantial number of workers quit their jobs and employers.
BLS reports leisure and hospitality added 151,000 jobs in January though the sector (which includes restaurants, bars and hotel hit hard COVID shutdowns) is still down 1.8 million jobs from February 2020 and the start of the pandemic.
Health care, another sector in the forefront of the coronavirus, added 18,000 jobs nationally in January services but is still down 378,000, or 2.3 percent, from pre-pandemic levels.
While frontline industries such as restaurants, retail and education have struggled with COVID protocols and hiring and retaining workers, more white-collar sectors and jobs have been able to weather the pandemic with employees working at home and meeting remotely.
BLS reported 86,000 professional and business services jobs were added in January. The sector, which includes consulting, computer systems designs, architecture and engineering, has employment levels 511,000 employees higher than pre-pandemic levels, according to BLS.
Economists were well off in their expectations for both the BLS and ADP numbers. They expected a 200,000-job private sector job gain from ADP instead of the large loss of jobs.
