Final Obama Era Jobs Report: Healthy

The U.S. workforce added a strong 227,000 jobs in January, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ final economic measure of the Obama administration. However, the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.8 percent as more workers came off the sidelines to seek employment. Average employment earnings for the month rose just 0.1 percent (up 2.5 percent from a year ago), despite increases in the minimum wage going into effect in various parts of the U.S. Surveys to measure the employment rate were conducted before Donald Trump took office on Jan. 20. Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a conservative economist who led the Congressional Budget Office under George W. Bush, told The New York Times the January results show the U.S. is near full employment. President Trump has previously indicated he believes the measures are “phony numbers.”