World News: The Daily Money: December jobs report; why you need a travel budget

ALL THE MONEY NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW

Friday, January 7

Good morning, Daily Money readers. We made it through the first full work week of 2022! Jayme Deerwester here with you this frigid Friday.

Hiring slowed sharply for a second straight month in December, with employers adding just 199,000 jobs, as the omicron variant began driving COVID-19 cases higher. The unemployment rate fell, which is calculated from a different survey from 4.2% to 3.9%, the Labor Department said Friday.

For all of 2021, the economy added a record 6.4 million jobs, or 537,000 a month. So far, the U.S. has recouped 18.8 million, or 84%, of the 22.4 million jobs lost early in the pandemic, leaving it 3.6 million jobs shy of its pre-crisis level.

On to today's ...

💡 DAILY INSIGHT. 💡Yearning to travel in 2022? Calculate how much you can put aside, then choose where to go. That's the advice of budgeting blogger Guadalupe Sanchez.

"Start saving at least nine months before you plan to travel, and keep all your savings in a specific bank account," she advises. "Separating the financial goal from the destination keeps you from deciding to go anyway because you've become emotionally attached to going somewhere."

Other stories you won't want to miss:

Why is Southwest canceling flights? Airline scrapped more than 600 Thursday.

Where to find KN95 masks for kids. Because those old cotton masks won't cut it anymore.

This Fresca packs a punch. Coca-Cola is launching an alcoholic version of soft drink.

Taco Bell offers wings for a limited time. How to get new Crispy Chicken Wings.

Don't dawdle getting to the airport. COVID spike forcing some TSA checkpoint closures.

MOOD MUSIC. With CES 2022 winding down this weekend, I've chosen Daft Punk's Techologic as today's lyrical inspiration: "Buy it, use it, break it, fix it, trash it, change it, mail, upgrade it. Charge it, point it, zoom it, press it, snap it, work it, quick – erase it."