U.S. employers added 353,000 jobs in January and hiring for the last two months of 2023 were revised up another 126,000, nearly double what Wall Street analysts expected, while average hourly earnings also topped predictions, coming in at 0.553% in January compared to 0.38% in December, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday. The unemployment rate stayed at 3.7%.

The hot labor market data will make the Federal Reserve more comfortable about holding interest rates higher for longer. Treasury yields spiked and futures fell and the dollar strengthened, while the chance of March cut fell to 24% from 40% before the report. (See: MNI INTERVIEW: US Manufacturing Nearing Growth Phase, ISM Says)

Job gains were led by professional and business services, which added 74,000 payrolls, much higher than the average monthly increase of 14,000 in 2023, the BLS said. Health care employment also rose 70,000. Average hourly earnings increased 4.5% over the year. Benchmark revisions contributed to the positive revisions for December and November and lifted the average monthly pace for private payroll gains to 170,000 in the second half of 2023 from 134,000 previously, the BLS said.

Source: BLS