US President Donald Trump's vaunted tax cuts didn't quite soothe America's jobseekers. As it turned out, employment opportunities were scarce compared to last year, as the labor department announced -- by around 500,000.
There were around half a million people who were unemployed in US soil last March than what the Bureau of Labor Statistics had initially revealed during its recent business survey. This figure represents the biggest reassessment since the economic recession 10 years ago.
More than 60 percent of the reevaluation was taken from the retail and hospitality sectors, the markets most closely linked with public spending, labor officials disclosed on Wednesday.
The adjusted numbers show the US economy did not get any sort of support in 2018 from Trump's tax deductions and the bigger federal budget. The revisions also indicate the country's labor force was actually more stagnant than initially thought, and may give the central bank more reasons to cut its rates next month.
A quick overview of the amended figures: Retail companies had 146,400 fewer workers, while hospitality and leisure sector restaurants, bars and hotels) had 175,000 fewer jobs. Healthcare, manufacturing, construction and services sector also had fewer employment opportunities than previously posted. The transport, trade, and energy sector also witnessed a drop of 104,000 workers.
According to Amherst Pierpont Securities economist Stephen Stanley, the 223,000 average hikes per month last year "makes some sense... and too good to be true considering how tight the labor market has become." However, some market analysts expect that this figure, which is the highest in as many years, could be narrowed down to 180,000 to 185,000.
The US monthly jobs report is collated from a poll of nearly 700,000 work locations, but labor statistics updates these figures annually after re-validating its results against state employment and insurance tax records. This yearly benchmark adjustment is much bigger than is generally the case. Last year's initial revision, for instance, showed the labor department provided 43,000 more hirings than first reported.
In his Monday national news commentary, US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said the Trump cabinet's $1.8-trillion 2017 tax reductions and other programs have improved employee salaries and infused millions of employment opportunities to the American people "contrary to misleading information that the President's policies are not benefitting workers."
Meanwhile, what remains to be seen is whether the huge discrepancy in jobs figures end up revealing that salary growth was more robust in 2018 compared to the latest numbers that the labor department has recently divulged.
