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The economy added 130,000 jobs in January while the unemployment rate edged down slightly to 4.3%, Labor Department data released Wednesday showed. (AP Photo\/LM Otero) \u00b7 ASSOCIATED PRESS <\/p>\nThe economy added 130,000 jobs in January \u2014 far more than economists had anticipated \u2014 while the unemployment rate edged down slightly to 4.3%, Labor Department data released Wednesday showed.<\/p>\n
Still, according to updated 2025 numbers, the economy gained a paltry 181,000 jobs for the entirety of last year, revised down from the earlier reported growth of 584,000 jobs \u2014 the slowest pace of job growth outside a recession since 2003.<\/p>\n
Nancy Vanden Houten, lead economist at Oxford Economics, cautioned in a note that the data “overstates any emerging strength in the labor market.”<\/p>\n
“Growth in nonfarm payrolls blew past expectations, but job gains were narrowly based and concentrated in construction and health care,” Vanden Houten said. “Most other sectors posted meager job gains or job losses. The federal government continued to shed jobs as did state and local governments.”<\/p>\n
Indeed, healthcare and social assistance together accounted for 124,000 of the jobs gained last month, continuing last year’s trend of those sectors driving what little payroll growth existed.<\/p>\n
The economy added 130,000 jobs in January while the unemployment rate edged down slightly to 4.3%, Labor Department data released Wednesday showed. (AP Photo\/LM Otero) \u00b7 ASSOCIATED PRESS <\/p>\n
The government’s data comes after private numbers released last week<\/a> indicated the labor market remained bruising for out-of-work Americans in January, with little in the way of new jobs. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had estimated a median gain of about 65,000 jobs in January’s official report, though their projections varied widely: The highest saw 135,000 more jobs, while the lowest saw a loss of 10,000 roles.<\/p>\n Do you have a story about navigating the job market? Reach out to Emma Ockerman here.<\/a><\/p>\n “Good news in January, but the downward revisions are huge,” economist Claudia Sahm wrote on X.<\/a> “More than a million fewer jobs than previously estimated by the end of 2025. And four months last year with outright declines in payrolls.”<\/p>\n The government’s monthly employment situation report, which includes both the unemployment rate and payroll growth, was meant to be published last Friday before it was delayed by the brief partial government shutdown. That left market watchers and economists waiting a few extra days for what Bank of America Global Research dubbed the “Super Bowl of jobs reports” and economist Michael Madowitz of the Roosevelt Institute called<\/a> #ConspiracyTheoryJobsday, since January’s report included standard revisions to the Labor Department’s data to account for unemployment insurance tax records and other adjustments.<\/p>\n Read more: What are jobless claims, and why do they matter?<\/a><\/p>\n Those revisions showed that for the 12 months ending in March 2025, the economy gained 898,000 fewer jobs than anticipated on a seasonally adjusted basis \u2014 though that was an improvement from the preliminary estimate released in September of 911,000 fewer jobs.<\/a> In all of 2025, meanwhile, job growth averaged about 15,000 positions per month.<\/p>\n Gains for December and November were similarly revised lower, from 50,000 in December<\/a> to 48,000 and from 56,000 in November to 41,000.<\/p>\n Ahead of this week’s batch of jobs data, Trump administration officials had been publicly working to temper expectations<\/a>, saying lower job growth is natural amid a drop in the labor force due to stricter immigration policies and productivity gains.<\/p>\n With Wednesday’s data out, however, administration officials quickly changed their tune.<\/p>\n “Today’s blockbuster, expectation-shattering jobs report proves that President Trump’s economic agenda continues to pay off \u2013 the unemployment rate fell and private sector job growth remains robust,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai wrote on X.<\/p>\n Emma Ockerman<\/a> is a reporter covering the economy and labor for Yahoo Finance. You can reach her at emma.ockerman@yahooinc.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n Sign up for the Mind Your Money newsletter<\/a><\/p>\n According to updated Department of Labor numbers, the economy gained a paltry 181,000 jobs for the entirety of 2025, revised down from the earlier reported growth of 584,000 jobs. \u00b7 Claire Banderas for Yahoo Finance <\/p>\n