U.S job growth likely rebounded in January as authorities began easing COVID-19 restrictions on businesses with the ebbing pace of infections, which could offer the strongest signal yet that the worst of the labor market turmoil was behind after the economy shed jobs in December.
The Labor Department’s closely watched employment report on Friday will, however, not lessen the need for additional relief money from the government, with millions of people experiencing long bouts of unemployment and others having permanently lost their jobs, and given up the search for work.
The economy would still be about 10 million jobs short from the labor market’s peak in February 2020. President Joe Biden is pushing the U.S. Congress to pass a $1.9 trillion recovery plan, which has been met with resistance from mostly Republican lawmakers, now worried about the swelling national debt.
Biden’s fellow Democrats in the Senate were on Thursday set to take a first step toward the ultimate passage of the proposed stimulus package
-REUTERS