America has half a million jobs less than expected

According to new figures released on Wednesday, the US labor market is not as strong as initially expected.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes monthly statistics on employment, but annually reviews and revises the estimates on which these figures are based, referred to as the "baseline revision". This figure, considered more accurate, is based on state unemployment data. tax records.

This year's preliminary data, however, contained bad news for the economy: employers created 501,000 fewer jobs than had been estimated in March 2019. This is the largest revision in almost a decade.

About two-thirds of the downward revisions came from retail trade, which had 146,400 fewer jobs, and leisure and hospitality industries, which had 175,000 fewer workers. However, other industries have also reported a drop in employment. Manufacturing, construction, mining and logging also reduced their estimates.

According to the updated data, the average monthly increase of 223,000 jobs in 2018 – the best since 2015 and which President Trump has frequently presented as proof that the policies of his administration are helping the economy – has fallen to 181,000 about.

Even if it is not as robust, it nevertheless shows that job creation is growing at a steady pace.

The Department of Labor will update these revisions in February 2020.