U.S. economy added 257,000 jobs in January

(Image credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

published 6 February 2015

This morning's report from the Bureau of Labor statistics showed the U.S. economy created another 257,000 jobs last month, while the unemployment rate increased slightly to 5.7 percent, from 5.6 percent in January. Average hourly earnings for all workers also increased to $24.75, up from $24.57 in December.

In other good news, the jobs number from November 2014 was revised upwards from 353,000 to 423,000 — as was December, from 252,000 to 329,000.

The report was largely in line with expectations. Economists were anticipating job growth of 230,000 or more, an unemployment rate of 5.6 percent, and an increase in average hourly earnings of 0.3 percent from December. Job growth hasn't fallen below 200,000 since January of 2014, making this the longest stretch of sustained monthly job growth since the early 1990s.