US Employers Keep Defying Expectations

A new report out of the Labor Department on Friday shows that American employers continue to hire at what the AP calls a "stunning" pace:

• Employers added 353,000 jobs in January, well above expectations of 185,000, reports the Wall Street Journal. It's also higher than the revised figure of 333,000 that were added in December.
• The unemployment rate held at 3.7%, despite expectations it would rise to 3.8%. The current mark is near a half-century low.
• In the good-news-is-bad-news vein, stock futures reversed gains—the Dow is now poised to open in negative territory—in the wake of the report because investors fear the Federal Reserve will be more reluctant to cut interest rates given the red-hot labor market, per CNBC.
• Hiring was up in most categories. Professional and business services led the way (74,000 new jobs), followed by health care (70,000), retail (45,000), and government (36,000).
• Wages also grew in January, with average hourly earnings up 0.6%. They were up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Both figures exceeded expectations.

(More jobs report stories.)