US stimulus calls increase as job growth rebound falls short
US employment growth rebounded less strongly than expected in January, fuelling calls for further government stimulus measures to aid the recovery from Covid-19.
Non-farm payrolls increased by 49,000 jobs last month, just shy of the 50,000 additions expected, according to the US Labor Department.
Figures for December were also revised to show 227,000 jobs were lost — deeper than the 140,000 jobs losses previously reported.
The fall in employment in December was the first in eight month and came amid renewed restrictions on businesses to help slow the spread of the virus.
The unemployment rate was 6.3 per cent in January, though this is believed to be an underestimate due to people misclassifying themselves as “employed but absent from work”.
The disappointing figures will fuel calls for further government relief, with millions of people experiencing long bouts of unemployment and others having lost their jobs permanently.
US employment is now 9m jobs below its peak in February last year and is not expected to return to pre-pandemic levels until 2024.
“By looking at the US non-farm payroll data, it is clear that massive strength that we have seen previously in a lot of areas in no longer there,” said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at Ava trade.
“This means that the US lawmakers can push really hard for the next second stimulus package.”
President Joe Biden is pushing the US Congress to pass a $1.9 trillion recovery plan, but has been met with resistance from mostly Republican politicians worries about rising national debt.