A “Now Hiring” sign is displayed in front of a recruiter speaking to a job applicant at the WorkSource North Seattle Career Fair on Tuesday, February 10, 2026 in Seattle, Washington, USA.
David Ryder Bloomberg | Getty Images
Job growth was stronger than expected in early 2026, easing some concerns about the state of the U.S. labor market.
Nonfarm payrolls rose by 130,000 in January, beating the Dow Jones consensus estimate of 55,000, according to seasonally adjusted numbers released Wednesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The total also improved from December, when it increased by 48,000 cases, after being revised slightly downward.
The unemployment rate fell slightly to 4.3%, lower than the 4.4% expected to remain unchanged from last month.
The report, delayed for nearly a week due to the partial government shutdown that ended on February 3, is consistent with a labor market in slow growth mode, albeit with only scattered signs of increased layoffs.
In addition to the monthly numbers, BLS released the final revised benchmark for the year prior to March 2025. These numbers have been revised downward by a total of 898,000 seasonally adjusted initial numbers. This was slightly lower than the 911,000 expected last September, but was about what Wall Street expected.
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