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The U.S. labor market clocked a shockingly strong month in January, adding 517,000 jobs and dipping down to 3.4 percent unemployment, according to data released Friday by the Labor Department.
The numbers blew past expectations. Analysts were projecting an increase of around 185,000 jobs and for the unemployment rate to edge up to 3.6 percent. In December, the unemployment rate dipped back down to 3.5 percent and added 260,000 new jobs, according to revised figures released Friday.
“This is an unbelievably strong unemployment report, not to suggest there’s a problem with credibility. The unemployment rate takes out the recent historic low going down to 3.4 percent while payrolls were a blowout topping 500,000 jobs. An additional 71,000 jobs are added with the revisions for the previous two months,” Bankrate analyst Mark Hamrick wrote in a statement.
“The stronger than expected employment report stands in direct conflict with fears of an imminent recession, which has been weighing on the minds of economists and business leaders alike,” he added.
The gain of 517,000 new jobs tops the monthly average gain of 401,000 for 2022, a year that already had outsized job growth.
Growth was strongest in the sector of leisure and hospitality, which added 128,000 new jobs compared to a monthly average of 89,000 in the sector last year.
