U.S. job growth short of expectations as 2025 gets underway
The U.S. added 143,000 jobs in January, fewer than economists expected, but the unemployment rate inched down to 4% from 4.1%, beating forecasts and still near historic lows. Forecasters surveyed by Dow Jones had anticipated 169,000 payroll gains in January, after a blowout 307,000 jump in December, according to revised tallies.