…But 379,000 jobs added to labour market in February

The addition of 379,000 jobs to the American labour market in February did little to change its unemployment rate, which was relatively unchanged at 6.3 per cent.

This is based on the latest statistics coming out of the United States (US) Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS), which reports that the relatively unchanged unemployment rate “was due to the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) on the labour market”.

According to the latest data, most of the job gains for February occurred in leisure and hospitality with smaller gains in temporary help services, health care and social assistance, retail trade and manufacturing.

However, employment declined in state and local government education, construction, and mining. Leisure and hospitality employment rose by 355,000 in February 2021, while temporary help services in professional business services added 53,000 jobs. Health care and social assistance added 46,000 followed by the retail trade with the addition of 41,000 jobs and manufacturing with 21,000 new employment.

Fall in employment in local government education, constructions and mining

The data showed that there was a fall in employment in local government education, which was down by 37,000 jobs, while state government education declined by 32,000 jobs. Employment in construction dropped by 61,000 while mining fell by 8,000 jobs.

In the meantime, employment in wholesale trade, transportation and warehousing, information, financial activities, and other services showed little changed in February. Notably, the number of persons on temporary layoff decreased in February to 517,000.

In February, the number of permanent job losers was little changed at 3.5 million.

While the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) stood at 4.1 million, the number of unemployed persons who were jobless for less than five weeks in February slightly changed to 2.2 million.

The labour force participation rate for February stood at 61.4 per cent, while the employment population ratio stood at 57.6 per cent. Nonetheless, persons employed part-time for economic reasons amounted to 6.1 million in February.

Bureau of Labour Statistics assessment

Based on the BLS’s assessment, “these individuals, who would have preferred full-time employment, were working part-time because their hours had been reduced or they were unable to find full-time jobs”.

In February, a total of 1.9 million individuals were slightly attached to the labour force.

These persons were not in the labour force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job in the last year. Of the marginally attached, 453,000 persons were classified as discouraged workers in February, was 522,000, slightly changed over the month.

These persons are not currently seeking work as they believe no jobs are available for them.