U.S. Adds 130,000 Jobs in January; Unemployment Falls to 4.3%
Real Estate News: Real Estate Investing Podcast
Kathy Fettke / RealWealth
4.5 • 546 Ratings
🗓️ 11 February 2026
⏱️ 4 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The January jobs report is in — and it came in stronger than expected.
The U.S. economy added 130,000 jobs to start 2026, while the unemployment rate edged down to 4.3%. Hiring was concentrated in health care, social assistance, and construction, even as some sectors saw losses. The Bureau of Labor Statistics also released updated benchmark revisions confirming that 2025 job growth was softer than previously reported.
In this episode, Kathy Fettke breaks down what the latest employment data signals about the strength of the labor market, wage growth, and what it could mean for Federal Reserve policy and interest rates moving forward.
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Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/11/jobs-report-january-2026-.html
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The January jobs report is finally in, and it's stronger than expected. The U.S. labor market may be showing signs of stabilization to start 2026. I'm Kathy Fedke, and this is real estate news for investors. |
| 0:15.8 | This is Real Estate News with Kathy Fedke. |
| 0:26.3 | According to the latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, non-farm payrolls increased by $130,000 in January, more than double the Dow Jones estimate of $55,000. That's also a solid |
| 0:34.4 | improvement over December's revised gain of 48,000 jobs. |
| 0:39.0 | The unemployment rate edged down to 4.3%, slightly better than forecast that called for it to remain |
| 0:45.4 | at 4.4%. Meanwhile, a broader measure of unemployment, which includes discouraged workers |
| 0:51.5 | and those working part-time for economic reasons dropped to 8% down |
| 0:56.3 | 0.4% from December. For investors, that signals stabilization in what had been a slowing labor |
| 1:02.7 | market throughout much of 2025. Markets responded positively. Stock futures moved higher following the |
| 1:09.9 | release, and treasury yields climbed as well. |
| 1:13.4 | However, job growth was heavily concentrated in just a few sectors. Healthcare led the way, |
| 1:19.2 | adding 82,000 jobs. Social assistance followed with 42,000 new positions. Construction added 33,000 jobs after seeing little growth last year. Some sectors |
| 1:31.4 | continued to contract. Federal government payrolls fell by 34,000, partly reflecting prior |
| 1:38.2 | workforce reductions tied to the Department of Government efficiency cuts. Financial activities |
| 1:44.1 | declined by 22,000 positions. |
| 1:47.5 | While the headline number looks strong, hiring remains uneven across the economy. There was also |
| 1:53.3 | an important update to last year's data. The Bureau of Labor Statistics released final |
| 1:58.6 | benchmark revisions for the prior year. Payroll totals for the |
| 2:02.2 | period from April of 2024 through March of 2025 were revised lower by 181,000 jobs overall. |
| 2:11.4 | That confirms that the labor market in 2024 was softer than initially reported. |
| 2:16.9 | On wages, average hourly earnings rose 0.4% in January, slightly above expectations, |
| 2:23.8 | bringing annual wage growth to 3.7%, right in line with forecasts. |
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