- Title: 'Last bit of good news we see for a bit' - analyst on January US jobs report
- Date: 11th February 2026
- Summary: WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES (FEBRUARY 11, 2026) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) MORNING CONSULT, HEAD OF ECONOMIC ANALYSIS, KAYLA BRUUN, SAYING: [REFERRING TO QUESTION ON BENCHMARK REVISIONS FOR 2025] “There kind of already was an understanding out there that jobs growth was weak in 2025, hiring was slow. We've heard the ‘low hire, low fire’ economy in 2025, our job mar
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- Keywords: Bureal of Labor Statistics January USA White House analyst data employment hiring jobs labor market tariffs wages
- Location: VARIOUS
- City: VARIOUS
- Country: US
- Topics: Economic Events,North America
- Reuters ID: LVA00C431010022026RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: U.S. job growth unexpectedly accelerated in January and the unemployment rate fell to 4.3%, signs of labor market stability that could give the Federal Reserve room to keep interest rates unchanged for some time while policymakers monitor inflation.
But the largest increase in payrolls in 13 months reported by the Labor Department on Wednesday (February 11) likely exaggerates the labor market's health, as revisions showed the economy added only 181,000 jobs in 2025 instead of the previously estimated 584,000. The job tally is a fraction of the 1.459 million added in 2024, the final full year of former President Joe Biden's term.
Morning Consult Head of Economic Analysis, Kayla Bruun, called the January jobs report a “surprise.”
“It may be the last bit of good news we see for a bit,” she said in an interview with Reuters on Wednesday, adding that she expected to see weaker numbers in the February jobs report.
President Donald Trump's aggressive trade and immigration policies continued to cast a shadow on the labor market, economists said, cautioning against viewing the surge in payrolls in January as marking a material shift in conditions.
They noted that other indicators, including job openings, pointed to a tepid labor market, adding that job growth remained concentrated in the healthcare and social services sectors.
Nonfarm payrolls increased by 130,000 jobs last month after a downwardly revised 48,000 rise in December, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast payrolls advancing by 70,000 jobs. Estimates ranged from a loss of 10,000 jobs to a gain of 135,000 positions. The unemployment rate fell from 4.4% in December.
The employment report, initially due last Friday (February 6), was delayed by the three-day shutdown of the federal government.
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