Employers added jobs in 30 states and cut them in 20, including Pennsylvania
WASHINGTON – Employers stepped up hiring in 30 states in January, led by big gains in Florida, Texas and North Carolina, and shed jobs in 20, including Pennsylvania.
The unemployment rate fell in 28 states, rose in eight and was unchanged in 14. The unemployment rate doesn’t always decline even when more hiring occurs, because more Americans may start job hunting and push up the rate even as others are hired.
Pennsylvania lost 16,100 jobs, the most of any state, in January even though its jobless rate fell to 4.6 percent, one-tenth of a point below December. New Jersey shed 14,100 and South Carolina lost 10,100.
Florida added the most jobs, 32,200. That was followed by Texas, with 31,400, and North Carolina, with 23,200. Florida’s biggest employment gains occurred in restaurants, hotels and amusement parks.
Fewer states gained jobs in January as hiring slowed a bit nationwide. Overall, employers added 172,000 jobs in January, below the average pace of hiring last year. Hiring nationally picked up in February, to 242,000, and the unemployment rate remained at an eight-year low of 4.9 percent.
The nation’s job market is generally improving, though many Americans are no longer working or looking for work, and wage growth remains tepid.
Slower growth overseas and the strong dollar may have lowered hiring in January. Financial markets also fell sharply that month as fears of a global recession intensified.
The U.S. economy, however, has remained healthy despite those challenges. Consumer spending rose at the fastest pace in eight months in January, as more Americans have paychecks to spend.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta forecasts the economy will expand at a modest 2.2 percent annual rate in the January-March quarter, up from a sluggish 1 percent increase in the final three months of last year.