A widely followed Labor Department report released Wednesday revealed that U.S. job creation in January significantly exceeded expectations.
Nonfarm payrolls increased by 130,000 during the month, following a revised gain of 48,000 in December. The prior month’s figure had initially been reported as a 50,000 increase.
Economists had projected that payrolls would rise by around 70,000 in January.
The data also showed the unemployment rate slipping to 4.3% from 4.4% in December. Analysts had anticipated the jobless rate would remain steady.