Jobs: Another big month for hiring

The U.S. economy added 304,000 jobs in January, said Heather Long and Danielle Paquette in The Washington Post, marking “the 100th straight month of job gains, an unprecedented run that began in 2010.” The performance blew away the expectations of economists, who had forecast an increase of about 165,000 jobs. The gains are “surprisingly strong” for a time when unemployment is already low. The unemployment rate did go up to 4 percent, “capturing the furloughed federal employees who temporarily stopped clocking in.” But otherwise the jobs report held all-around good news, alleviating concerns of investors, who had been “on edge heading into 2019.”

“Add the recent government shutdown to the list of things that didn’t slow the American job market,” said Ben Casselman in The New York Times. Wage growth remained solid, while private-sector hiring was “strong and broad-based.” It adds up to a “virtuous cycle” of strong hiring and modest wage gains that “has put the economy on a strong, sustainable footing.” None of the recent threats the economy has endured—trade tensions, “stock market jitters,” and slowed growth in China and Europe—has disrupted the hiring pattern. For all commentators’ talk of a recession, there’s “no evidence of an economy slowing.” ■