Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Friday showed that unemployment fell in December as new jobs soared past economists’ projections.
As reported by the Daily Wire, the number of nonfarm jobs increased by 223,000, exceeding analysts’ expectations of 200,000. December’s unemployment rate decreased from 3.7% to 3.5%.
The average hourly earnings increased 4.6% year-over-year, which was below analysts’ estimates of 5%. While nominal wages have grown over the past two years, they have increased at a slower rate than price levels, indicating that households’ purchasing power is low.
As the Federal Reserve reverses nearly three years of aggressive monetary stimulus, including near-zero target federal funds rates and government bond purchases, policymakers have closely examined unemployment rates. Interest rates were raised by three-quarters of a percentage point on four consecutive occasions before a half-percent increase last month.
Minutes from last month’s meeting revealed that members of the Federal Open Market Committee still believe that achieving 2% inflation will take “some time.”
Meanwhile, the majority of economists believe the United States will experience a recession this year following last year’s worst stock market performance in modern history, while others are less optimistic.
Despite this looming disaster, Joe Biden celebrated the numbers, tweeting that his “economic plan has always been to grow our economy from the bottom up and the middle out.”
Although President Biden celebrated last month’s above-average unemployment numbers, it doesn’t change the grim reality that is lurking beneath the surface. Millions of Americans are still struggling to get by and economists fear a recession is headed our way this year due to last year’s historically bad stock market performance. Joe has presented us with a false victory; we must get ready for what’s coming and be prepared to face a difficult and unprecedented economy in the coming months. Get ready, because it’s going to be a bumpy ride.
