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227,000 Jobs Added in January

The Latest From the BLS Employment Report:

The first jobs report under President Donald Trump showed the economy added 227,000 jobs in January, the Labor Department reported on Friday, up from December’s 157,000 jobs. The unemployment rate rose slightly to 4.8 percent this month. Market reactions to the news saw stock market futures move higher while government bond yields fell.

In January, employment increased in retail trade, construction, and financial activities. Construction gained 36,000, financial activities were up 32,000 and professional and technical services saw a 23,000 gain. The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for November was revised down from 204,000 to 164,000, and December was revised up from 156,000 to 157,000. With these revisions, employment gains in November and December combined were 39,000 lower than previously reported. Over the past 3 months, job gains have averaged 183,000 per month.

As 2017 kicks off, and a new presidency begins, all eyes are on the jobless rate and the wage growth. While the unemployment rate, at 4.8 percent, and the number of unemployed 7.6 million, changed little in January, most economists consider this surge of 227,000 jobs to be an indicator of an increasingly healthy labor market. President Trump, who ordered an across-the-board hiring freeze for the federal government last week, has pledged on the White House website to create 25 million new jobs.

Economists’ predictions

Economists predicted 175,000 additions ahead of this morning’s jobs report and the report exceeded expectations with 227,000 jobs added. january jobs report

This Month’s Report

Let’s break down the numbers from this month’s report.

In January, hourly wages increased by $0.03 to $26 per hour, following a 6 cent decrease in December. This brings the year-over-year wage percentage increase to 2.5 percent. The unemployment rate saw a slight uptick to 4.8 percent.

  • Wages:
    • $26 Janary
    • $25.97 December
      • + $0.03 month-over-month
      • + 2.5% year-over-year
  • Unemployment:
    • 4.8% January
      • +0.1% month-over-month
    • 4.7% December

What does this mean for the accounting and finance industry? Our in-depth analysis is below.

In-Depth Look: Accounting and Finance Jobs

Let’s take a look at how the Accounting and Finance industry is performing. Overall, industry subsectors saw job additions month-over-month. Here are some of the highlights:

  • Financial activities:
    • Month-over-month change: +32,000
    •  Year-over-year change: +190,000
  • Finance and Insurance:
    • Month-over-month change: +19,800
    • Year-over-year change: +126,500
  • Accounting and bookkeeping services:
    • Month-over-month change: -7,100
    • Year-over-year change: +16,100

The unemployment rate for financial activities dipped and now sits at 3.3 percent (-0.7 percent month-over-month). This average sits far lower than the national average. This means, for businesses looking to bring on finance professionals, the market remains extremely competitive. To ensure you’re positioning your company as a top employer for job seekers, check out our 2017 Salary Guide.

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Author

Accounting Principals

We're Accounting Principals--a leader in finance and accounting staffing. In fact, since 2010, we've been part of Adecco Group, a Global 500 company and leader in staffing services around the world. But this isn't staffing as usual. We take quite a different approach than most staffing agencies. A people-focused approach. We believe in forming real relationships with both our clients and our candidates. We want to understand the needs on both sides.

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