WASHINGTON: US hiring in January topped all forecasts while wage gains cooled and the government shutdown pushed up the unemployment rate, signalling job gains remain robust without any major inflation pressures. The jobless rate increased to 4%, reflecting the shutdown, as the number of unemployed on temporary layoff rose by 175,000, many of them federal workers, according to the department. Still, the shutdown likely hit some private industries, and some federal workers were probably misclassified as employed but absent from work instead of unemployed on temporary layoff, he said. In January, gains in hiring included construction, with the biggest increase in almost a year. The tax-cut tailwinds are likely to fade, the state of the trade war remains uncertain and global growth is cooling.

Source: Bangkok Post February 01, 2019 14:15 UTC