The U.S. unemployment rate is back below 5% for the first time since 2008. But it's not all fun and games; hiring is slowing down.
Figures released Friday by the U.S. Labor Department show the stateside economy added only 151,000 jobs in January. That is way down from December when the economy gained 262,000 jobs. Economists projected that the economy would create 197,000 new jobs last month.
The job market has been a bright spot in America's recovery from the Great Recession. Unemployment is now 4.9%, the lowest since February 2008, and even wages are finally rising again.
But there are some warning signs. U.S. economic growth was a mere 0.7% in the fourth quarter.
The department says the manufacturing sector is in recession; spending on construction projects is declining; and stocks in the U.S. and around the world are tanking. The broad S&P 500 is down 6.2% this year... and it's only February.
For the past several years, hiring has been strong and fewer and fewer people have filed unemployment benefits. But that's starting to change.
The four-week average of people filing for unemployment has increased since October, meaning more people are out of work. This trend usually foreshadows slower job growth.
Still, experts say a job gain of 151,000 is decent and unemployment is very low. For many economists, a 5% rate is considered full employment.
