US beat expectations with 130,000 new jobs and drop in unemployment in January

Job creation exceeded expectations in January, a month in which the unemployment rate also declined.

The Labor Department reported that 130,000 new hires were recorded in January and unemployment fell to 4.3%. Analysts, according to a survey published by MarketWatch, forecast 55,000 new hires and an unemployment rate of 4.4%.

The report also made revisions to previous labor market data. A net 181,000 jobs were created in 2025, down from 584,000 previously published.

The department delayed the release of this report, originally scheduled for late last week, due to the recent partial shutdown of the federal government.

The health care, social work and construction sectors increased the number of employees, while in finance and in the federal government the number of workers decreased.

Since his return to power a year ago, Trump has pursued a plan to reduce the size of the federal administration. Since the peak reached in October 2024, the federal government has 327,000 fewer employees, representing a 10.9% decrease in its workforce.

Trump: America should be “paying the lowest interest rate”

"GREAT JOBS NUMBERS, FAR GREATER THAN EXPECTED!" celebrated Donald Trump on Truth Social. He also took the opportunity to again insist that the Federal Reserve should lower interest rates.

"The United States of America should be paying MUCH LESS on its Borrowings (BONDS!). We are again the strongest Country in the World, and should therefore be paying the LOWEST INTEREST RATE, by far. This would be an INTEREST COST SAVINGS OF AT LEAST ONE TRILLION DOLLARS PER YEAR - BALANCED BUDGET, PLUS," he added. "WOW! The Golden Age of America is upon us!"

The president has been calling for a rate cut for months, even directly railing against Fed Chairman Jerome Powell. Trump recently named who he wants to be his replacement when his term ends in May: Kevin Warsh, a former Federal Reserve governor.

Earlier this year, Powell asserted that, under the guise of alleged cost overruns on a Fed building renovation, the Justice Department had opened an investigation against him because of his reluctance to bow to Trump's pressure. Some Republican senators agreed with the chairman, claiming there was political motivation behind the inquiries.