- January payrolls: 130,000 jobs added, beating expectations of 65,000; unemployment rate fell to 4.3%, still historically low.
- 2025 revisions: Full-year job growth revised down to 181,000 (≈15,000/month), highlighting a weaker labor market than initially reported.
- Data challenges: Large revisions reflect survey difficulties and low response rates, making the economic picture harder to assess.
- Labor market cooling: Job openings fell to 6.5M vs. 7.4M unemployed, down from a previous peak of 2 openings per job seeker, signaling tougher hiring conditions.
- Year-over-year trends: Unemployment up from 4.0% to 4.3%; unemployed population rose from 6.9M to 7.4M, suggesting gradual softening despite recent monthly gains.
