January 2022 saw about 1.4 million workers joining the labour force in the US. However, the unemployment rate, on the whole, rose a bit from 3.9 per cent in December 2021 to 4 per cent in January 2022.
Temporary jobs, such as demand for temporary help, increased by about 26,000 in January as compared to December. About 4,67,000 non-farm jobs were added, as revealed by seasonally adjusted data from the US Bureau of Labour Statistics.
About 1,51,000 jobs have been added in the leisure and hospitality space. Food outlets and bars have added about 1,08,000 jobs, while about 23,000 jobs have been added in the accommodation space. Yet, the figures are way lower than pre-pandemic levels.
The average income per hour for workers in private non-farm jobs has gone up by about 23 cents to $31.63 in January.
There has been a slight increase in the number of those in the 25 to 54 age group presently employed. It has risen from 79 to 79.1 per cent. About 3.6 million workers were absent from work owing to the spread of Omicron.
Meanwhile, in Canada, employment dropped by 2,00,000, and unemployment rate increased very slightly to 6.5 per cent in January.
While youth witnessed a dip in both permanent and part-time jobs, women in the 25 to 54 age bracket saw employment dipping in the part-time space. The number of open jobs is as high as 8,74,000 in Canada. The transportation and warehousing sector alone saw a record high of over 51,000 unfilled positions.
