U.S. employers added 130,000 jobs in January 2026 while the unemployment rate held steady at 4.3 percent, as gains in health care, social assistance, and construction were partly offset by losses in federal government and financial activities, amid significant annual benchmark revisions. Assistance from Claude AI.
Key Takeaways:
- Employers added 130,000 jobs in January; unemployment held at 4.3 percent.
- Health care, social assistance, and construction drove job growth.
- Federal government and financial activities posted notable losses.
- Average hourly earnings rose 0.4 percent over the month and 3.7 percent over the year.
- Benchmark revisions sharply reduced previously reported job growth for 2025.
Article Summary:
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 130,000 in January 2026, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 4.3 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The number of unemployed people stood at 7.4 million, up from 6.9 million a year earlier, while the jobless rate was higher than the 4.0 percent recorded in January 2025.
Job gains were concentrated in health care, which added 82,000 positions — including 50,000 in ambulatory health care services and 18,000 in hospitals — and in social assistance, which added 42,000 jobs, primarily in individual and family services. Construction employment rose by 33,000, largely due to hiring among nonresidential specialty trade contractors.
Losses occurred in federal government employment, which fell by 34,000 as workers who had accepted deferred resignation offers in 2025 came off payrolls. Since peaking in October 2024, federal employment has declined by 327,000, or nearly 11 percent. Financial activities employment dropped by 22,000, including an 11,000 decline in insurance carriers and related activities. Most other major industries, including manufacturing, retail trade, transportation and warehousing, professional and business services, and leisure and hospitality, showed little change.
Wages and hours edged higher. Average hourly earnings for all private-sector employees rose by 15 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $37.17 in January, up 3.7 percent over the year. Production and nonsupervisory employees saw a 12-cent increase to $31.95. The average workweek increased slightly to 34.3 hours.
The labor force participation rate held at 62.5 percent, and the employment-population ratio was 59.8 percent. Teen unemployment declined to 13.6 percent, while rates for adult men (3.8 percent), adult women (4.0 percent), and major racial and ethnic groups showed little monthly change. Long-term unemployment remained elevated at 1.8 million, accounting for one-quarter of all unemployed individuals and up by 386,000 from a year earlier.
The number of people working part time for economic reasons fell by 453,000 to 4.9 million in January but was still higher than a year ago. Meanwhile, 5.8 million people outside the labor force said they wanted a job, though they were not actively seeking work. Severe winter storms in January had no discernible effect on national employment figures but did lower the household survey response rate to 64.3 percent.
The report also incorporated substantial benchmark revisions. Total nonfarm employment for March 2025 was revised downward by 898,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis. As a result, total job growth for 2025 was revised from 584,000 to 181,000. November and December 2025 payroll gains were revised down by a combined 17,000. The establishment survey also updated its birth-death model to incorporate current sample information each month.
“The Employment Situation — January 2026.” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 11 Feb. 2026, www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf