Little Movement in Unemployment Rate
Jobs Growth
The start of 2026 saw a surge in employment activity as the economy added 130,000 new jobs, more than two-and-one-half times higher than in the final month of 2025 and the highest figure in more than a year.
Top Industries
Both the healthcare and social assistance arena continued to show strong growth in January, along with the construction sector. Job losses were most prevalent in the federal government and in financial activities.
Unemployment
There was little movement in the unemployment rate, which shifted from 4.4% in December to 4.3% in January.
Wages
Average hourly earnings rose by 0.4% in January, contributing to an increase of 3.7% over the past 12 months.
Work Week
The workforce got off to a good start in the new year, working an additional 0.1 hour in January, raising the average workweek to 34.3 hours.
Temporary Job Trends
Temporary employment grew by 9,100 jobs in January. That performance is coupled with a positive restatement of the two prior months, indicating temporary help gains in each month.
What Does It All Mean?
Exceeding all expectations, the January jobs report surprised everyone with job creation numbers that surged ahead of recent monthly activity. The latest jobs numbers shifted the labor market from dark predictions of a stalled economy to a glimmer of hope for a significantly stronger year ahead. The question now becomes whether January offers a glimpse into a much brighter future or is simply another outlier in a bigger, much grayer and less active landscape.
Along with a solid report for the first month of the new year came revised estimates of annual job creation that exposed the previous year as far less robust than initially reported. And 2025 was already pegged as a particularly sluggish year. The reluctance to hire was often chalked up to a combination of factors that included tariff uncertainty, the impact of AI, and continuing concerns about inflation.
Both employers and employees are weighing their options. Hiring strategy may be gearing up for action, but it is focused more on building skills and supporting productivity initiatives than strictly numbers-based goals. For job seekers, in addition to fewer opportunities, many would-be candidates remain fixed in place, preferring the security of a current job to the possibility of a grueling job search.
Now it is time to watch for signs of growth across the economy. The labor market is a single but important indicator. Temporary help is on the rise, always a good sign. GDP is predicted to break records. The stock market is on fire. Inflation is dropping. Will consumer spending accelerate? Will hiring activity spread beyond healthcare and social assistance to other sectors? Whatever the future holds, opportunity doesn’t always wait to be found; it is seized by the bold and the visionary in any economy.
Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Staffing Industry Analysts, CNBC, FOX Business, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, NBC News
