2024 started off with an economic smile. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Friday, the U.S. added 353,000 jobs to the market. Also, the unemployment rate (3.7%) remained under 4% for the 24th consecutive month.
“The fact that the unemployment rate has been below 4% for 24 months straight for the first time since 1967 is truly remarkable,” Joe Brusuelas, chief economist and principal at RSM US, told CNN Business. “And that’s the word I keep saying as I look through this report: ‘This is remarkable.’ ‘Remarkable,’ is the takeaway here.”
It’s noted that the BLS incorporate calculating factors to January’s data to help smooth out the season’s usually twisty report.
Does it Feel ‘Remarkable’?
Jobs are being created at record pace. The S&P 500 is posting historical numbers. It should be a flourishing time for Americans.
But, is it?
Recent data shows the population is starting to feel better about money. According to Pew Research Center, 28% of Americans would say the economy is either ‘excellent’ or ‘good’. It took almost two years, but that’s a 9% jump since a similar survey conducted in 2022. It’s worth noting that 57% of Americans said the economy was ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ in January 2020 as well.
Maybe it’s not just about the numbers, though. Data isn’t as trustworthy as some believe. Kyle K. Moore, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute, points to systemic issues as the factor driving a wedge into the economic outlook.
“Recent improvements are taking place against a backdrop of many decades of too slow wage growth, increasing inequality, and a lot of misdirected public investment that has led healthcare and education to be a source of economic stress,” Moore says. “The economy isn’t sick right now. We don’t have the flu. But that doesn’t mean we don’t have chronic conditions that need to be treated.”
The Effects of Lingering Inflation
Economic health is hard to categorize during the election season. Candidates could benefit from the sheer honesty of how much of the population is still trying to breathe from years of inflation.
“A substantial amount of Americans are feeling the effects of the inflationary period, even if some indicators are moving away from that,” says Jocelyn Kiley, associate director of research at Pew.
It’d be nice to hear a plan that deals with inflation; beyond the ‘remarkable’ data.