U.S. Added 353K Jobs in January, Blowing Past Estimates

The latest update on the labor market came less than two days after the Fed’s Jerome Powell poured cold water on market hopes of a rate cut in March. Labor market strength continued in a big way in January, with the U.S. adding 353,000 jobs versus economist forecasts for 180,000 and against December’s 333,000 (revised from an originally reported 216,000), according to the government’s nonfarm payrolls report released Friday morning. The unemployment rate held steady at 3.7% versus expectations for a rise to 3.8%. The price of bitcoin (BTC) fell about 0.5% in the minutes following the report, now trading at $42,800. This morning’s read on the labor market is of particular interest in that it comes less than two days since the Federal Reserve’s January monetary policy meeting. The results