Employers added 130,000 jobs in January, blowing past expectations

Employers across the U.S. added 130,000 jobs in January, topping economists’ forecasts in a sign the labor market remains resilient.

By the numbers

Economists had forecast a monthly payroll gain of 75,000, according to polling from financial data company FactSet. 

Hiring was strongest in the health care sector, which added 82,000 jobs last month, followed by social assistance, with 42,000 payroll gains. The federal government and financial activities shed jobs.

The unemployment rate in January stood at 4.3% in January, down from 4.4% in December, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday.

The report included major revisions that reduced the number of jobs created last year to just 181,000, the weakest since the pandemic year of 2020, and less than half the previously reported 584,000.

The January jobs report was initially scheduled for release on Jan. 6 but was delayed due to the partial government shutdown. 

The employment figures come after last week’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS, showed a slowdown in job openings, while a separate Labor Department report indicated a jump in unemployment claims.

Layoffs across the U.S. surged in January to their highest level for the month since 2009 as companies including Amazon and UPS announced large job cuts.

What experts are saying

Wednesday’s jobs report may not fully ease lingering uncertainty caused by 2025’s muted hiring, experts said.

“This is one data point, and it doesn’t erase the recent softness elsewhere in the data,” eToro U.S. investment analyst Bret Kenwell said in an email. “But if the labor market is indeed stabilizing, that would be constructive for both the economy and the market.”

Hiring in January was “uneven,” with strong job gains in some industries, such as health care, but losses in others, including the federal government and financial services, noted Bankrate senior economic analyst Mark Hamrick in an email.

Investors cheered the report, with futures showing the S&P 500 is set to rise 0.4% in Wednesday morning trading.

The stronger-than-expected jobs report reinforces the Federal Reserve’s decision to hold rates steady at its meeting last month, marking its first pause after three consecutive cuts at the end of 2025, experts said. 

“A stronger labor print buys the Fed time. For now, policymakers get a pass,” noted Mark Malek, the chief investment officer of investment firm Siebert Financial, in an email. “There is nothing in this report that forces their hand toward immediate easing.”