U.S. job growth blew past expectations in January as the economy brushed off a record-breaking surge in COVID-19 cases nationwide that threatened to sideline millions of workers and kept many consumers at home.
The Labor Department said in its monthly payroll report released Friday that payrolls in January rose by 467,000, easily topping the 150,000 jobs gained forecast by Refinitiv economists. The unemployment rate, which is calculated based on a separate survey, ticked up slightly to 4% (the increase is largely because the labor force participation rate climbed to 62.2%, the highest level since the pandemic…
