The January jobs report shocked Wall Street, so what does it mean for the Federal Reserve? TheStreet Today breaks it down.
The January jobs report came in unexpectedly hot, stopping dead in its tracks the rally investors have seen so far this year.
Last month 517,000 jobs were added to the economy, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Analysts expected 185,000 jobs.
Unemployment has reached 3.4%, a level not seen since 1969.
The data comes after the Federal Reserve announced that it raised interest rates by 25 basis points on Wednesday.
The Federal Reserve has been aggressively raising rates to combat inflation and uses the labor market as a metric in that battle.
“He CMEGroup FedWatch The tool now suggests a 94.5% probability of a 25 basis point trailing rise in March, up from 82% before the data release, but still sees it as the last rise for the cycle, even as Powell indicated a preference for “a couple more” moves up,” Streets noted Martin Baccardax.
Some investors expected relief from this spring’s hikes as long as the Fed got a favorable result on inflation. However, the January jobs report runs counter to that hope.
And all this is happening while tech companies are announcing thousands of layoffs and Wall Street is worrying about a recession.
Baccardax joins TheStreet Today to talk about the job market, what it means for the Federal Reserve and more.
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