Employment slashes in the US job market in Jan 2022 amid Omicron wave

According to a study conducted by ADP Research Institute, Omicron has taken a toll on the employment index of the US. The study titled ADP National Employment Report shows that the private sector employment decreased by 301,000 jobs from December to January in the US.

The official statement by ADP states that the small businesses with 1-49 employees saw the largest number (144,000) of job deductions over the mentioned period. The companies with employee counts ranging between 1-19 witnessed 106,000 job losses, while those with a headcount between 20-49 stood at 38,000. 

Commenting on the statistics, Nela Richardson, chief economist, ADP said, “The labor market recovery took a step back at the start of 2022 due to the effect of the Omicron variant and its significant, though likely temporary, impact on job growth.”

As a whole, the service providing companies witnessed a total job loss of 274,000 with the heaviest effect on transportation (62,000). Amid the mounting cases of Omicron, ironically the healthcare and social services industry lost 10,000 employees. But, adding to the obvious picture, the findings revealed that 154,000 jobs were lost in the hospitality industry. 

Elaborating the scenario, Nela furthered, “The majority of industry sectors experienced job loss, marking the most recent decline since December 2020. Leisure and hospitality saw the largest setback after substantial gains in fourth-quarter 2021, while small businesses were hit hardest by losses, erasing most of the job gains made in December 2021.”