The labor market isn’t as strong as predicted, with 818,000 fewer jobs. (iStock )
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics just reported that the U.S. added 818,000 fewer jobs over the last 12 months (through March) than they previously predicted. The -0.5% difference was reported in the preliminary estimate of the annual revision to the BLS employment series. Consumers won’t know the final numbers until February.
The largest discrepancy occurred in the professional and business services sector, with the revision showing 358,000 fewer jobs than originally reported. The retail industry had the second-largest revision at 129,000 fewer jobs. Manufacturing came in third with 115,000 fewer jobs.
The labor market isn’t in a dire place, but the unemployment rate still hovers near 4.3%, which is higher than the beginning of 2023, Jerome Powell, the Chair of the Federal Reserve,
