WASHINGTON: There is an even balance in the share of U.S. businesses reporting decreases and increases in employment for the first time in a decade, a survey showed on Monday, the latest suggestion that the labor market has likely peaked and job growth could slow this year.
According to the survey, the declines in employment were in the services, goods-producing and transportation, utilities, information, and communications industries. There were gains in employment in the finance, insurance, and real estate sectors.Though job growth remains solid and more than enough to keep the unemployment rate low, momentum has slowed from the brisk pace experienced at the end of 2018 and the beginning of 2019.
That suggests job growth over that period averaged around 170,000 per month instead of 210,000. Economists expect job gains beyond March 2019 could also be revised lower. "While most respondents suggest their firms have not felt much impact from the tariffs and countermeasures over the past year, respondents from goods-producing firms report their companies have experienced negative sales and higher costs," said Greene, who is also a senior fellow at the Harvard University's Kennedy School of government.