The U.S. economy added 130,000 jobs in January, according to data released Wednesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The pace of employment growth sharply surpassed economist expectations of 70,000 and marked a strong acceleration compared to December's downwardly revised 48,000.
However, the jobs report also included sweeping benchmark revisions that erased roughly 898,000 jobs from payroll estimates from April 2024 through March 2025.
Total nonfarm employment growth for 2025 was revised down from 584,000 to 181,000.
The unemployment rate unexpectedly dropped from 4.4% to 4.3%.
Which Industries Are Adding More Jobs?
Private sector payrolls surged by 172,000 in January, marking the strongest monthly gain since December 2024.
Hiring was concentrated in health care, social assistance and construction, while federal government and financial activities posted declines.
Health care led job creation, adding 82,000 positions. Gains were strongest in ambulatory health care services, which added 50,000 jobs, followed by hospitals with 18,000 and nursing and residential care facilities with 13,000.
For comparison, health care averaged 33,000 jobs per month in 2025, making January's increase notably stronger than last year's trend.
Employment in social assistance rose by 42,000, driven largely by individual and family services, which accounted for 38,000 of those gains.
Construction added 33,000 jobs, reflecting growth in nonresidential specialty trade contractors, which increased payrolls by 25,000. Construction employment had been essentially flat throughout 2025 prior to this rebound.
On the downside, federal government employment fell by 34,000 in January. Since peaking in October 2024, federal payrolls have declined by 327,000 jobs, representing a drop of 10.9%, as employees who accepted deferred resignation offers in 2025 continued to come off payrolls.
Financial activities employment declined by 22,000 during the month and is now down 49,000 since reaching a recent high in May 2025. Within the sector, insurance carriers and related activities lost 11,000 jobs.
Wage growth strengthened. Average hourly earnings for private nonfarm employees rose 15 cents, or 0.4%, to 37 dollars and 17 cents.
That marked an acceleration from December's 0.1% increase and exceeded expectations of 0.3%.
Over the past 12 months, wages have climbed 3.7%, slightly above forecasts of 3.6%.
Market Reactions
Wall Street positively reacted to the jobs report, with major equity indices rising on Wednesday's premarket trading.
Contracts on the Nasdaq 100 were up nearly 1%, while those on the S&P 500 added 0.5%. On Tuesday, the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (NYSE: DIA), closed at record highs.
Gold futures were 1% higher to $5,080 per ounce, while silver futures rallied 5.4% to $85.