February 4, 2005

Non-farm payrolls grew 146,000 in January, to 132.6 million jobs. Although the gain was less than what economists had expected - 189,000 was the consensus forecast - it was enough to finally breach the February 2001 pre-recession peak. More importantly for the Bush Administration, the January payroll increase enabled the President to avoid the stigma of being the first chief executive since Herbert Hoover to preside over net job losses. Job growth during Bush’s first term totaled 119,000, a paltry 0.1 percent gain over four years.