The Biden Boom is real, and it’s spectacular.
While it didn’t match the blockbuster numbers from January and its record 504,000 new jobs, the February Jobs Report exceeded expectations, with an impressive new 311,000 jobs added to the American workforce last month.
Notable job gains occurred in leisure and hospitality, retail trade, government, and health care as more people felt comfortable returning to in-person work after the long COVID pandemic.
Employment declined in information tech, transportation, and warehousing, according to the report.
Data released earlier this week for January showed that there were 1.9 job openings for every person looking for one, but the labor market is still short of pre-pandemic growth projections by more than 3 million people.
Economists had only forecast a modest 200,000 new jobs for February, and while unemployment ticked up slightly from 3.4% to 3.6%, the outlook for spring is a cautiously optimistic one.
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The report’s statistics also allowed for the impact of the pandemic on an aging American workforce.
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The massive Baby Boom generation is retiring at record numbers, while those who dropped out of the workforce for care-related needs and health concerns such as long Covid; and there were hundreds of thousands of workers who died from Covid.
Wages are also slowly increasing, with average hourly earnings growing 0.2% month-by-month and were up 4.6% over February 2022’s numbers.
But the good news on the jobs front most likely still won’t prevent a federal rate hike, as the Fed is expected to implement a half-point increase at its meeting later this month.
President Joe Biden boosted the Jobs Report on Friday while also managing to make a few digs at the Republicans who keep trying to take away all the good things that Democrats deliver.
Tune in as I deliver remarks on the February jobs report and our transition to steady, stable economic growth. https://t.co/ER1EJiYxng
— President Biden (@POTUS) March 10, 2023
