Commentary
The latest jobs report in the United States shows strengths and weaknesses. Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 223,000 in December, and the unemployment rate fell to 3.5 percent. However, the U.S. job market continues to show negative real wage growth, the employment-to-population ratio is 60.1 percent, and the labor force participation rate is 62.3 percent.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), both measures have shown little net change since early 2022 and each remain 1 percentage point below their values in February 2020.
The U.S. jobs figures are constantly dissected by analysts, and there’s a healthy criticism in independent research, which certainly helps enormously when it comes to understanding the health of the labor market. However, in the European Union, things are much worse….