By Sho Chandra
U.S. hiring picked up in January and wages rose at the
fastest annual pace since the recession ended, as the economy’s steady move
toward full employment extended into 2018.
Nonfarm payrolls rose 200,000 -- compared with the median
estimate of economists for a 180,000 increase -- after an upwardly revised
160,000 advance, Labor Department figures showed Friday.
The jobless rate held
at 4.1 percent, matching the lowest since 2000, while average hourly earnings
rose a more-than-expected 2.9 percent from a year earlier, the most since June
2009.
