January saw steady job growth, but revisions show a much weaker 2025 labor market
Below, EPI senior economist Elise Gould offers her insights on the jobs report released this morning. Read the full thread here.
Today’s #JobsReport highlights:
– payroll job growth 130k in January, but benchmark revisions show 2025 much weaker than originally reported
– unemployment rate at 4.3%, up from 4.0% last January
– federal government continues to lose jobs
#EconSky @epi.org #NumbersDay— Elise Gould (@elisegould.bsky.social) Feb 11, 2026 at 7:54 AM
Jobs continue to be added in health care and social assistance in January 2026 while the federal government experienced another set of losses. Manufacturing gained 5,000 jobs but is still down 83,000 jobs since last January.
#EconSky— Elise Gould (@elisegould.bsky.social) Feb 11, 2026 at 8:12 AM
Attacks on the federal workforce have been astounding. Federal employment has shrunk an alarming 324,000 jobs since January 2025. The vital services federal employees provide cannot be done without these essential workers. The cost of these losses are only beginning to be felt.
#EconSky #NumbersDay— Elise Gould (@elisegould.bsky.social) Feb 11, 2026 at 8:12 AM
Over the last year, the unemployment rate increased from 4.0% to 4.3%. In addition, the labor market has weakened for U.S.-born workers: unemployment rose to 4.7% in Jan, up from 4.3% a year earlier. (Seasonally adjusted data aren’t available by immigration status)
#EconSky #NumbersDay— Elise Gould (@elisegould.bsky.social) Feb 11, 2026 at 8:21 AM
The big story in today’s jobs report is about the final benchmark revisions. With the downward revisions to prior data, the labor market added only 181,000 jobs total in 2025, just 15,000 per month on average.
#EconSky #NumbersDay @epi.org— Elise Gould (@elisegould.bsky.social) Feb 11, 2026 at 8:46 AM
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