Hicks: Shutdown Will Lead to Revised Jobs Report

Mike Hicks is the director of the Ball State Center for Business and Economic Research.

The director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at Ball State University says while January’s jobs report is strong, it won’t be the final version. Mike Hicks believes the report, which says the U.S. added 304,000 jobs last month, will be significantly revised downward due to the government shutdown.

"The composition of jobs continues the trend of broad growth and wage growth year over year was a very healthy 3.2 percent," said Hicks. "The shutdown will impact both the administrative data and the real economy, as spending slowed through much of January."

Hicks says economists has anticipated a gain of about 172,000 jobs for January. The U.S. Department of Labor says job gains occurred in several industries, including leisure and hospitality, construction, healthcare, and transportation and warehousing.  

The DOL is also reporting that the national unemployment rate rose slightly to 4 percent. Hicks says average earnings also rose three cents per hour in December.