The February employment report is expected to show solid job gains

The February employment report is expected to show solid job gains

Transcript¹

The Labor² Department will report on job growth in February. The job market has bounced back strongly from the depths of the pandemic, but some employers still struggle to find available workers.

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

The U.S. job market is shifting into high gear. This morning, the Labor Department reported that U.S. employers added 678,000 jobs last month, 678,000 jobs last month, as unemployment dipped just under 3.8%. NPR's Scott Horsley joins us now. Scott, another really strong jobs report, even better than forecasters were expecting. What does it tell us?

SCOTT HORSLEY, BYLINE³: A, this is a very positive report. The job gains were widespread. Bars and restaurants, which have been a bellwether⁴ throughout the pandemic, added 124,000 jobs. Construction companies added 60,000 workers. Factories added 36,000 jobs. What's more, the job gains for December and January were also revised up. So of the 22 million jobs that were lost in the first couple of months of the pandemic, the U.S. has now regained⁵ more than 90%. And Nela Richardson, who's chief economist⁶ at the payroll⁷ processing company ADP, says we could see additional months of strong job growth as the omicron wave of the pandemic recedes⁸ and the health outlook improves.

NELA RICHARDSON: Omicron, which is now fading across most of the country, did not have as much of an economic impact as was expected or even seen in previous waves. But it may have had an effect of keeping some workers on the sidelines due to health concerns.

HORSLEY: A census⁹ survey in early January found nearly 9 million people who said they weren't working because either they were sick with COVID or taking care of someone who was. By early February, that number had fallen. But it was still pretty high, just under 8 million.

MARTINEZ: All right. So that number, 8 million, I mean, that has to cut into the job numbers.

HORSLEY: Yeah. A lot of employers say they would hire more people if they had more applicants¹⁰. We did see the share of people working or looking for work in the U.S. shrink more during the course of the pandemic than it did in many other countries. But there's been some encouraging news on that front as well in this morning's report. Some 304,000 people came off the sidelines in February and joined the workforce¹¹. Jay Bryson, who's chief economist at Wells Fargo, thinks there could be more progress in the months to come.

JAY BRYSON: I think, as people start to feel a little bit more comfortable about coming back to the offices, as people feel they don't have to be staying at home with the children anymore, I think you will start to see that number continuing to move higher. But that said, there's a number of people who have retired¹² now and probably aren't coming back.

HORSLEY: And as a result of that smaller workforce, employers are having to pay more to find workers. Average wages in the private sector¹³ were up 5.1% in February from a year ago. In the leisure and hospitality sector, wages have jumped 11.2% in the last year. Now, in some cases, those higher wages are contributing to rising prices. And because prices are climbing fast, a lot of workers are finding even larger paychecks don't stretch as far as they used to.

MARTINEZ: Yeah, because inflation now, the highest it's been since the early 1980s. So how much pressure is that putting on the inflation watchdogs at the Federal Reserve?

HORSLEY: A lot. And we're about to see a turnaround at the Fed. You know, for the last two years, the central bank has been keeping interest rates close to zero as part of an aggressive effort to prop¹⁴ up the economy and recover the jobs that were lost to the pandemic. Now, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell says it's time to start raising interest rates in order to bring prices under control.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JEROME POWELL: The economy is very strong. Unemployment is low. Wages are going up. The labor market is quite healthy. And inflation is all too high. So we're responsible. We're accountable for inflation. And we're going to use our tools to bring it down.

HORSLEY: Powell expects policymakers to raise rates by a quarter-point when they meet in a couple of weeks.

MARTINEZ: NPR's Scott Horsley. Scott, thanks.

HORSLEY: You're welcome.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 bellwether   

n.系铃的公羊，前导，领导者，群众的首领

参考例句：

• University campuses are often the bellwether of change.大学校园往往引领变革的新潮。
• For decades the company was the bellwether of the British economy.几十年来，这家公司一直是英国经济的晴雨表。

5 regained   

复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地

参考例句：

• The majority of the people in the world have regained their liberty. 世界上大多数人已重获自由。
• She hesitated briefly but quickly regained her poise. 她犹豫片刻，但很快恢复了镇静。

6 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

7 payroll   

n.工资表，在职人员名单，工薪总额

参考例句：

• His yearly payroll is $1.2 million.他的年薪是120万美元。
• I can't wait to get my payroll check.我真等不及拿到我的工资单了。

8 recedes   

v.逐渐远离( recede的第三人称单数 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题

参考例句：

• For this reason the near point gradually recedes as one grows older. 由于这个原因，随着人渐渐变老，近点便逐渐后退。 来自辞典例句
• Silent, mournful, abandoned, broken, Czechoslovakia recedes into the darkness. 缄默的、悲哀的、被抛弃的、支离破碎的捷克斯洛伐克，已在黑暗之中。 来自辞典例句

9 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

10 applicants   

申请人，求职人( applicant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were over 500 applicants for the job. 有500多人申请这份工作。
• He was impressed by the high calibre of applicants for the job. 求职人员出色的能力给他留下了深刻印象。

11 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

12 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

13 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

14 prop   

vt.支撑；n.支柱，支撑物；支持者，靠山

参考例句：

• A worker put a prop against the wall of the tunnel to keep it from falling.一名工人用东西支撑住隧道壁好使它不会倒塌。
• The government does not intend to prop up declining industries.政府无意扶持不景气的企业。