The U.S. economy added far more jobs than were expected in the month of January, according to new government statistics released Friday, with the job growth unexpectedly pushing the unemployment rate down to its lowest level in almost 3 years.
The Labor Department report showed that the non-farm payroll employment jumped by 243,000 jobs in January following a revised increase of 203,000 jobs in December. Economists had expected employment to increase by about 140,000 jobs.
The increase in employment during the month marked the largest monthly jump since an increase of 251,000 jobs in April of 2011.
Chris Low, chief economist at FTN Financial, said, "December's employment report was good, but also full of one-offs and "yeah, buts." Seasonal workers, a drop in labor force participation and so on."
"January's looks a lot more solid, with broad based job gains which included categories expected to fall for seasonal reasons," he added.
With the stronger than expected job growth, the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to 8.3 percent from 8.5 percent in the previous month.
The drop pulled the unemployment rate down to its lowest level since a matching number in February of 2009. Economists were expecting the unemployment rate to hold steady at 8.5 percent.
Some economists have questioned the legitimacy of the recent decline in the unemployment rate, which topped 9 percent as recently as last summer.
There has been an argument that discouraged workers coming out of the labor force have accounted for most of the decline.
However, January's figures suggested that real job growth contributed to the reduction. The report showed that the number of unemployed people fell to 12.8 million, the lowest level in three years.
The stronger than expected job growth in January reflected a substantial increase in employment in the private sector, which added 257,000 jobs.
On the other hand, government employment continued to decline, edging down by 14,000 jobs in January following a decrease of 17,000 jobs in December.
The professional and business services, manufacturing, and health care and social assistance sectors saw notable job growth during the month.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.