Here is the output:
Source: AP News
Summary
The US added 130,000 jobs in January, exceeding economists’ expectations, but government revisions cut 2024-2025 payrolls by hundreds of thousands. The unemployment rate fell to 4.3%. Healthcare accounted for nearly 82,000 new jobs, and factories added 5,000, snapping a 13-month streak of job losses. Average hourly wages rose 0.4% from December to January.
Our Reading
The numbers tell one story.
The surprisingly strong job gains in January were driven mainly by health care and social assistance. But it is enough to stabilize the job market and send the unemployment rate slightly lower. That’s an encouraging sign to start the year, especially after the hiring recession in 2025.
The announcement sounds familiar. The job market has been sluggish for months, even though the economy is registering solid growth. The January numbers were much stronger than the 75,000 economists had expected. The federal government shed 34,000 jobs.
The strategy enters a familiar phase. The report included major revisions that reduced the number of jobs created last year to just 181,000, a third the previously reported 584,000 and the weakest since the pandemic year of 2020.
Original observation: This is a classic case of “the numbers tell one story” – the unemployment rate looks better than the hiring numbers, but the government revisions reveal a more accurate picture of the job market.
Author: Evan Null
