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[ad_1] Amid last year's U.S. economic upheaval, the ultra-tight job market was a rare high point, with low unemployment, strong hiring and rapidly rising wages.  The government's employment report for December, set to be released on Friday, will indicate just how good that year was. Wall Street, the Federal Reserve and businesses nationwide will be closely scrutinizing the figures to see how hot the job market has been — or whether it's showing signs of a slowdown. Here's what they'll be looking at.  How many jobs did the U.S. create? Economists expect employers to have added 200,000 jobs in December, according to a survey on FactSet. That would mark a decline from the robust pace of hiring in the second half of the year, but would still indicate far stronger job creation than what is needed to keep up with population growth and unemployment from rising.  "Announced hiring freezes began to spread in late autumn,

[ad_1] Employers across the U.S. added 311,000 jobs in February, a sign the labor market remains solid even as the Federal Reserve tries to slow economic growth.  The figure, released Friday by the Department of Labor, was higher than economists' expectations that employers had added about 208,000 jobs last month, according to financial data company FactSet. The jobless rate edged up to 3.6%, from 3.4% in the prior month as more Americans looked for work. Hiring was strong among employers in the leisure and hospitality, retail and health care industries, as well as for government jobs, the Labor Department said. The U.S. has an ongoing "scarce talent market" that is prompting employers to hire, noted Becky Frankiewicz, president of the recruiting company Manpower Group. The "overall picture is one of job growth that remains well above the economy's long-term potential and is much too hot for the Federal Reserve,&

[ad_1] Layoffs around the U.S. surged in the first three months of the year, a sign the labor market is softening amid efforts by the Federal Reserve to hit the economic brakes in a bid to quash inflation.  In the first quarter of 2023, companies announced 270,000 job cuts, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas —more than four times the number of cuts in the year-ago period. "We know companies are approaching 2023 with caution, though the economy is still creating jobs. With rate hikes continuing and companies' reining in costs, the large-scale layoffs we are seeing will likely continue," Andrew Challenger, senior vice president of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, said in a statement.  The technology sector led the cuts, Challenger said. Announced layoffs in tech this year have already exceeded the total for all of last year. If that continues, tech could have its worst year on record, surpassing

[ad_1] The red-hot job market capped off 2022 on a high note, with employers adding 223,000 jobs in December, the Labor Department reported Friday. The payroll numbers reflect a slowdown from the pace of job creation earlier in the year, but they are slightly above economists' predictions  that businesses had added about 200,000 jobs last month. The unemployment rate fell to 3.5% as more workers found jobs, matching a 50-decade low. The Federal Reserve is seeking to tamp inflation by putting the brakes on the economy — including hiring — through its series of recent interest rate hikes. While employers added more jobs than expected in December, investors were cheered by last month's cooler wage growth. "It's hard to imagine a jobs report in better balance," said Robert Frick, corporate economist with Navy Federal Credit Union, in an email. "Wage growth is slowing, which will take some pressure off inflation,