The Fed Is Going to Go Postal

January's jobs numbers are out, and the unemployment rate fell to 3.4%, and non-farm payroll increased by 517,000.

Unfortunately this means that the Federal Reserve's Jihad against American workers will continue.  While they talk about fighting inflation, their behavior indicates that they see this entirely involving suppressing wages of ordinary folks.

So, because of the psychopaths at the Federal Reserve, good news is bad news.

It is very likely that will be raising rates by at least 50 basis points (½) at the next FOMC meeting:

U.S. job growth accelerated at the start of the year as employers added a robust 517,000 jobs and pushed the unemployment rate to a 53-year low.

The unexpectedly strong hiring gains raise questions about whether the economy, which had been losing momentum over the past several months, is starting to pick up steam again. If so, that could prompt a more aggressive response by the Federal Reserve as it raises interest rates in an attempt to temper economic growth and bring down inflation.

January’s seasonally adjusted payroll gains were the largest since July 2022 and snapped a string of five straight months of slowing employment growth, the Labor Department said Friday. December job growth was also stronger than previously estimated, pushing the average job gains for the last three months to 356,000, well above the 2019 prepandemic average of 163,000.

The unemployment rate was 3.4% last month, its lowest level since May 1969. The average workweek rose to its highest level since March 2022, reversing declines in the fourth quarter.

Wage growth continued to soften, despite the strong job gains. Average hourly earnings grew 4.4% in January from a year earlier, down from a revised 4.8% in December. Annual revisions to employment and pay data suggest that wage growth has been cooling—but at a slower pace than previously thought. 

It should noted here that wage growth is less than inflation, but most of the wage growth is happening in the least well paid in the workforce.

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A key consideration for Fed officials will be whether wage increases continue to cool. Earlier this week the Labor Department said growth in wages and benefits moderated in the fourth quarter.

The cost increases are cause by war, a broken supply chain, and monopoly rents, but they still want to keep wages down, because ……… The Aristocrats!