Overview
- Nonfarm payrolls rose by 130,000 and the unemployment rate fell to 4.3%, beating forecasts as average hourly earnings increased 0.4% on the month and 3.7% year over year.
- Annual benchmark revisions slashed estimated 2025 job growth to about 181,000, and the BLS updated its birth‑and‑death model in a change economists say could trim reported gains versus prior methods.
- Hiring was concentrated in health care (+82,000), social assistance (+42,000) and construction (+33,000), while financial activities shed jobs and federal government employment fell by 34,000 in January and is down 327,000 since October 2024.
- Rate markets pared back odds of a March move, with futures pointing to a continued pause and the first cut increasingly priced for mid‑year.
- President Trump praised the report and pressed for lower interest rates, as analysts cautioned that concentrated sector gains and sizable revisions limit evidence of a broad rebound.