The US economy added 130,000 jobs in January, exceeding analysts’ expectations | Economy and Business

The U.S. labor market added 130,000 new jobs in January, the best figure in 12 months, according to statistics released Wednesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This number exceeded analysts’ expectations, who had anticipated a much weaker figure (between 45,000 and 60,000) due to the wave of layoffs in the tech sector. These companies are seeking to free up resources to sustain their frantic investment in artificial intelligence (AI) and to leverage the productivity gains this technology provides in order to reduce costs.

The data has been corrected for seasonal effects, which makes the January figure even more surprising when compared to the 48,000 jobs created last December.

The increase in employment occurred in health care, social assistance and construction, while the federal government and financial activities lost jobs, the federal agency said in a note.

The robust health of the labor market reduces pressure on the Federal Reserve to further cut interest rates because it dispels doubts about the slowdown at the end of last year. Data from the last quarter of 2025 showed a moderation in the pace of job creation due to the thousands of federal layoffs by the Trump administration, taking advantage of the government shutdown last October.

The White House’s immigration policies, with indiscriminate raids on immigrants and mass deportations, as well as stricter work visas, have also reduced the workforce and led the U.S. labor market to an unusual paradox: no hiring, but no layoffs either.

Once that obstacle was overcome, companies have once again accelerated hiring, particularly in two sectors: healthcare and construction. The healthcare sector added 82,000 jobs in January, with gains in outpatient healthcare services (+50,000), hospitals (+18,000), and nursing and residential care facilities (+13,000). Growth in healthcare averaged 33,000 per month in 2025, according to the Labor Department.

The statistics also reviewed the data from previous months. This revision worsens the job creation statistics for November and December, subtracting 17,000 jobs created in the final months of last year, which corroborates the job slowdown in 2025.

The unemployment rate, meanwhile, fell by a tenth of a point to 4.3%, confirming analyst expectations, which gives the Fed plenty of reasons to take its time with interest rate decisions.

Analysts are beginning to focus on workers who are dropping out of the labor market. “The number of long-term unemployed (those who were out of work for 27 weeks or more) changed little in January at 1.8 million, but increased by 386,000 from a year earlier. The long-term unemployed accounted for 25% of all unemployed people in January,” the agency said.

This is the first set of statistics released by the new Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Brett Matsumoto, who was appointed on January 31 to fill a position that had been vacant since the summer, when U.S. President Donald Trump fired the agency’s previous head, Erika McEntarfer, accusing her without evidence of publishing “rigged jobs figures.”

Trump’s first months in the White House were unstable for the economy. He approved tariffs and handed tech tycoon Elon Musk the reins of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which cut thousands of jobs and eliminated dozens of federal agencies. The result was an economic slowdown during the first two quarters and a contraction in job creation. This circumstance led Trump to fire McEntarfer. Matsumoto is a trusted aide of Trump. Until now, he worked in the White House as part of the president’s economic advisory team.

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