For the first time since the financial crash in 2008, U.S. unemployment has dropped below 5 percent. In additional good news for workers, wages are finally rising, ticking up half a percentage point in January. 

"The progress we've made going from 10 percent to under 5 percent, that's a testament to American workers, American businesses, American people being resilient and sticking to it," said President Obama at a Friday press conference in response to the news. 

But economists caution that things are far from hunky dory. For one, the economy only grew at 0.7 percent during the final quarter of 2015, causing some concern that another global economic slowdown — even another recession — could be afoot. 

Continue Reading for Free

Register and gain access to:

  • Breaking benefits news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical converage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.