US economy added whopping 517,000 jobs in January

CNN: The US economy added an astonishing 517,000 jobs in January, showing that the labour market isn’t ready to cool down just yet.
The unemployment rate fell to 3.4 percent from 3.5 percent, hitting a level not seen since May 1969 — two months before Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon — according to new data released Friday by the Bureau of Labour Statistics.
Economists were expecting 185,000 jobs would be added last month, based on consensus estimates on Refinitiv.

“With 517,000 new jobs added in January 2023 and the unemployment rate at 3.4 percent, this is a blockbuster report demonstrating that the labour market is more like a bullet train,” Becky Frankiewicz, president and chief commercial officer of Manpower Group, said Friday.
The shockingly strong monthly jobs gain — a number that several economists cautioned was influenced by seasonal factors and is subject to future revisions — bucks a trend of five consecutive months of moderating job growth during the latter half of 2022. 
“The blowout 517,000 increase in total employment was almost certainly a function of seasonal noise and traditional churn in early-year job and wage environment and exaggerates what is already a robust trend in hiring,” Joe Brusuelas, principal and chief economist with RSM US, said in a statement.

Nonetheless the juggernaut of a report may cause complications for the Federal Reserve, which has been trying to tame high inflation with higher interest rates, said Seema Shah, chief global strategist of Principal Asset Management.
Still, the report also showed that wage growth moderated on an annual basis: Average hourly earnings fell 0.4 percentage points to 4.4 percent year over year. Monthly wage gains held steady at 0.3 percent.
The report also showed an increase in the closely watched labour force participation rate to 62.4 percent from 62.3 percent.