The US economy surprises the markets… 130,000 new jobs in January

The US economy added 130,000 jobs in January, exceeding market expectations, in an indication of improvement in the US labor market, which contradicts a series of recent pessimistic reports.
The numbers issued today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics were almost double the expected number, which is 68 thousand jobs, according to a survey conducted by Bloomberg of economists, and they are also much higher than the downwardly revised number, which is 48 thousand jobs added in the previous month. The unemployment rate fell slightly to 4.3%.
This unexpectedly positive start to the year took markets by surprise, after recent reports indicated a weak labor market, with high layoff rates, a decline in available job opportunities, and an increase in unemployment claims.
The data will bolster outgoing Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell’s argument that the labor market is showing “signs of stabilization,” after the central bank halted its interest rate cutting campaign last month.