Photo: Win McNamee / Getty Images News / Getty Images
The economy added 130,000 jobs in January, nearly doubling the expectations of just 70,000.
The unemployment rate was 4.3%, slightly lower than economists' expectations of 4.4%
If you look deeper at the numbers, declined by 42,000 jobs in January, with job cuts at the federal (-34,000) and state (-18,000) level partially offset by a gain among local governments (+10,000). The report noted that some federal workers who accepted a deferred resignation offer last year officially left federal payrolls, while the federal government's workforce is down 327,000 jobs since its October 2024 peak, a decline of 10.9%.
The January report was delayed by several days thanks to the recent partial government shutdown.