US Non-farm Payroll Employment increased by 304,000 in January, and the unemployment rate edged up to 4.0 percent, as the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.
The unemployment rate didn’t rise as much as expected. In the month of January, average hourly earnings for employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 3-cents to $27.56, after a 10-cent gain in December. The unemployment rate for January rose to 4.0% from 3.9% and average hourly earnings m/m only rose 0.1% m/m after 0.4% m/m in December while average hourly earnings y/y in January is same as predicted.