SFS Insights

• Last week’s employment report showed surprisingly strong numbers for nonfarm payrolls, with the US economy creating 517,000 jobs in January. The consensus had expected a number closer to 200,000.

• The unemployment rate fell to 3.4% versus the estimate for 3.6%. That is the lowest jobless level since May 1969. The labor force participation rate edged higher to 62.4%.

•  The surge in job creation comes despite the Federal Reserve’s efforts to slow the economy and bring down inflation from its highest level since the early 1980s. However, rising labor participation can help further dampen wage inflation, which is welcome news for the Federal Reserve

• The Fed is hoping to engineer a “soft landing” (a pullback in the economy that is just enough to tame high inflation without triggering a recession) for an economy that is pressured by inflation and geopolitical factors that held back growth in 2022.

•  Most economists still expect this year to see at least a shallow recession, though the labor market’s resilience could cause some rethinking of that.

(Source: CNBC)

Robert Schermerhorn, CFP® 

Jamie Usas, CFP®

Operations Manager

Amanda Friedman

Wealth Consultant

Andrew Chapman, CFP®

Operations Research Associate

Lauren Bliss

Office Coordinator

Saratoga Financial Services

18 Division Street, Suite 305

Saratoga Springs, NY 12866

Phone: (518) 584-2555

www.SaratogaRetire.com

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