Rebound: US Adds 130,000 Jobs in January

Last year may have proven a bust in job creation, but 2026 has started with a relative bang. The US added more jobs in January than in any month for the past year or more, beating expectations in the media and kicking off a midterm-cycle fight over economic policy.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the US added 130,000 jobs while the unemployment rate edged down slightly to 4.3%, down from 4.5% in November. Even the usual downward revisions for the previous two months were minimal, with a total loss of 17,000 previously reported gains:

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 130,000 in January, and the unemployment rate changed little at 4.3 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Job gains occurred in health care, social assistance, and construction, while federal government and financial activities lost jobs. ...

Both the labor force participation rate, at 62.5 percent, and the employment-population ratio, at 59.8 percent, changed little in January. These measures have shown little change over the year. (See table A-1.)

The number of people employed part time for economic reasons decreased by 453,000 to 4.9 million in January but is up by 410,000 over the year. These individuals would have preferred full-time employment but were working part time because their hours had been reduced or they were unable to find full-time jobs. (See table A-8.)

In January, the number of people not in the labor force who currently want a job decreased by 399,000 to 5.8 million. These individuals were not counted as unemployed because they were not actively looking for work during the 4 weeks preceding the survey or were unavailable to take a job. (See table A-1.)

These numbers seem significant as a potential move toward more significant job creation. The Household survey – which is prone to polling issues, remember – shows a net increase in the civilian labor force of 387,000, and a net month-on-month gain of those employed by 528,000. The job gains reported as a topline come from the Establishment survey, which is less prone to data instability, and shows the more modest number of 130,000. However, the private sector actually added 172,000, as 42,000 government jobs disappeared last month. Goods-producing industries added 36,000 jobs, a good sign that tariffs may be helping to boost that sector, although almost all of those gains came from construction – itself a good signal for future growth.

Wages are another bright spot, again:

In January, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 15 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $37.17. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 3.7 percent. In January, average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees rose by 12 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $31.95. (See tables B-3 and B-8.)

The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls edged up by 0.1 hour to 34.3 hours in January. In manufacturing, the average workweek edged up by 0.1 hour to 40.1 hours, and overtime was unchanged at 2.9 hours. The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 0.1 hour to 33.8 hours. (See tables B-2 and B-7.)

While 130,000 may not seem like a breakout number, it's a massive improvement over 2025. It's the highest month for job creation since December 2024, and four of the twelve months that followed fell into negative job-growth territory. However, wages have remained above inflation during that entire time, suggesting that the job market may have been adjusting to both tariffs and aggressive immigration enforcement, shifting jobs to legal workers with higher pay requirements. If so, that adjustment period may be ending and normal job growth could be on the horizon for 2026.

Economists missed this trend:

January’s job number came in higher than 78/80 economists in Bloomberg’s survey predicted.

— Geiger Capital (@Geiger_Capital) February 11, 2026

The Wall Street Journal issued a cautious hurrah:

The U.S. economy added 130,000 jobs in January, its strongest growth in more than a year and a sign that the labor market may be shaking off its recent stagnation.

January’s surprising gains were concentrated in the healthcare and social assistance sector—including jobs like home health aides and residential care workers—which has been the main engine of jobs growth in recent months. Elsewhere, though, there were other signs of strength, with construction and manufacturing also adding workers. The transportation and warehousing, information, financial services and government sectors all cut jobs.

These results stand out even more starkly after the BLS made its annual revisions to previous data:

The strongest job growth since December 2024 marks a turnaround after hiring slowed sharply in 2025, especially after new revisions from the Labor Department show just how tough the market has recently been for job seekers.

The revisions sharply cut prior job numbers stretching back nearly two years, the product of previously scheduled revisions. The net result: the U.S. produced only 1.2 million jobs in 2024, versus the previously estimated two million. The labor market slowed even more to add just 181,000 jobs last year, versus the previously estimated 584,000.

CNBC notes that the Dow Jones consensus estimate was 55,000, less than half of the 130,000 result. Rick Santelli gets excited over the "unexpected" good news:

This is undoubtedly good news for Donald Trump and the GOP. And Trump knows it:

Just in: GREAT JOBS NUMBERS, FAR GREATER THAN EXPECTED! The United States of America should be paying MUCH LESS on its Borrowings (BONDS!). We are again the strongest Country in the World, and should therefore be paying the LOWEST INTEREST RATE, by far. This would be an INTEREST COST SAVINGS OF AT LEAST ONE TRILLION DOLLARS PER YEAR - BALANCED BUDGET, PLUS. WOW! The Golden Age of America is upon us!!! President DJT

That's a big signal to the Federal Reserve, which has taken a much more cautious approach to rate cuts. Stronger employment numbers likely will keep the Fed cautious, however; better job growth means they can focus more on inflation control than investment. The real value in this report is to support Trump's stay-the-course message for the midterms. 

Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump’s leadership and bold policies, America’s economy is back on track.

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