United States: Hiring Surges in January, Defying Expectations

According to today's establishment survey, the US economy added 517,000 jobs in January. This comes after an increase of 260,000 in December (revised from 223,000) and 290,000 in November (revised from 256,000). The unemployment rate was bumped down a notch from 3.5% to 3.4%, its lowest level since 1969. Contrary to expectations, the US labour market still isn’t slowing down. January's strong job creation and downtick in unemployment will complicate the Fed's next rate decision, possibly prolonging its hiking cycle.