NPR. This is the indicator from Planet Money, I'm Darin Woods.

And I'm Whelan Wong, and today is Jobs Friday.

Oh my gosh, you can hear the celebratory air horn that we use to mark the first

Friday of the month when we reach into the latest jobs report from the Bureau of

Labor Statistics. We want to find insights into how the economy is working for regular people.

And even more than the stock market or gross domestic product, we love this report because jobs and

wages and all the other goodies in there, that's where we see how the economy is

working for regular people, not just investors. And last month it worked well. The US economy added a

healthy 216,000 new jobs and people got raises, lots of them.

I like to check where the new jobs come from and a lot of them were in government and

health care and social assistance. They made up 51% of net new jobs. But of course

there are more stories to pluck from the numbers as we do

here on the indicator and so after the break we're going to take a closer look at

two of the most interesting indicators from the jobs report. Plus, stick with us for the dramatic reveal of who won

are indicators of 2023 and 2024. Support for this podcast and the following message come from Dignity Memorial.

When your celebration of life is prepaid today, your family is protected tomorrow.

Planning ahead is truly one of the best gifts you can give your family.

For additional information visit dignity memorial.com.

All right, Jobs Friday, you go first, Wailen.

Okay, my indicator is 2.8 million.

That is the number of temporary workers in the economy,

according to the newest jobs report and it's

...