Research Brief: Employment – February 2020

Better-than-expected job additions do not sway forecasts. Employers added 225,000 positions to payrolls in the first month of 2020, starting the year off on a strong foot after an average of 176,000 roles were created per month in 2019. Investors should not assume, however, that January’s more positive figures will herald accelerated growth in 2020. Both 2018 and 2019 began with elevated job creation, only for the pace of employment growth to moderate as time progressed. While last month’s figures illustrate that there is still upward momentum left in the labor market, the overall pace of hiring is continuing to slow, falling in line with current projections for 1.5 million new jobs in 2020.

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