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US posts weak jobs report with 5.7 million ‘missing workers’
February 8, 2014, 3:25 am

The US added 113000 jobs in January, bringing the average growth rate over the last three months to just 154000 jobs, said a new report released by the American Bureau of Labor Statistics [AP]

The US added 113000 jobs in January, bringing the average growth rate over the last three months to just 154000 jobs, said a new report released by the American Bureau of Labor Statistics [AP]

The US job market has disappointed again suggesting recovery has slowed down in January.

The US added 113000 jobs in January, bringing the average growth rate over the last three months to just 154000 jobs, said a new report released by the American Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

“At this pace, it will take more than six years to get back to pre-recession labor market conditions,” said Economic Policy Institute labor economist Heidi Shierholz in a report on the organization’s website.

There are still 5.7 million missing US workers — workers who have given up looking for work, or never started because job openings are so weak — although the slight increase is a step in the right direction, Shierholz said.

The jobs report was the second month of weak hiring and has fueled speculation that the US Federal Reserve might postpone further tapering of its massive monetary stimulus program. Major emerging economies have criticised the Federal Reserve for what they have suggested is an ‘unsynchronized exit’.

India’s Central Bank Chief Raghuram Rajan warned last month that unless there was greater coordination, industrialised nations “may not like the kinds of adjustments we (emerging markets) will be forced to do down the line”.

The BRICS have said their economies are now much better prepared for the US Federal Reserve tapering its stimulus program.

The Federal Reserve has announced trimming of its $85 billion monthly stimulus after US economic indicators improved.

TBP and Agencies