WASHINGTON, Feb 9 (Reuters) – White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said on Monday that Americans could see smaller job growth numbers in the coming months due to lower population figures and higher productivity.
The combination of strong GDP growth and a pretty big decline in the labor force “because of illegals leaving the country” could lead to lower job numbers, Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, said in an interview with CNBC.
“So I think that you should expect slightly smaller job numbers that are consistent with high GDP growth right now,” Hassett said.
“And that one shouldn’t panic if you see a sequence of numbers that are lower than you’re used to, because, again, population growth is going down and productivity growth is skyrocketing. It’s an unusual set of circumstances.”
The Labor Department is scheduled to report the delayed employment report for January on Wednesday. Nonfarm payrolls likely increased by 70,000 jobs last month, a Reuters survey of economists showed, after rising 50,000 in December.
The U.S. unemployment rate was 4.4% in December. Economists polled by Reuters expect it will be unchanged for January.
(Reporting by Doina Chiacu;)