The separately determined unemployment rate rose to 4.0 from the previous 3.9 percent.
(Photo: dpa)
Washington Despite the omicron wave at the beginning of the year, the US economy created far more jobs than expected. In January, 467,000 new jobs were created, as the government announced in Washington on Friday. Experts polled by Reuters had only expected job growth of 150,000 after a revised 510,000 in December. In a first estimate, only a value of 199,000 was given for December.
At the same time, the separately determined unemployment rate rose to 4.0 from the previous 3.9 percent. However, the number of weekly initial jobless claims fell. In the past week, initial claims fell by 23,000 to 238,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Experts had expected an average of 245,000 applications. In view of the job market running smoothly again and high inflation, US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has indicated a turnaround in interest rates for March and has prepared the financial markets for further upward steps.
More: US economy posts strongest growth since 1984 in 2021
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