Overview
- Bureau of Labor Statistics data show the U.S. added 130,000 nonfarm jobs in January and the unemployment rate eased to 4.3%, topping forecasts for 75,000 jobs and 4.4%.
- An annual benchmark revision cut estimated job growth for 2025 to 181,000 from a previously reported 584,000, a sizable downgrade that reshapes the recent employment picture.
- Senior adviser Peter Navarro told Fox Business viewers to lower expectations for monthly gains, calling sub‑100,000 readings a new 'steady state' and asserting, without evidence, that Biden‑era jobs largely went to undocumented workers.
- National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett similarly argued that smaller monthly gains could reflect a smaller workforce from 'illegals leaving the country' and urged markets not to overreact.
- Forbes and economists report no data showing deportations drove the slowdown, noting the foreign-born share of the workforce was virtually unchanged year over year and citing outside estimates that a lower 'breakeven' pace near 40,000 does not validate claims about undocumented workers taking most prior gains.