The economy ended 2024 with a solid labor market and a better-than-expected reading for headline unemployment.

Before the strong December jobs report was released, the odds were already low for an interest rate cut in the next Federal Reserve decision on January 29.

A hot jobs report makes it even more likely the Federal Reserve won’t cut rates at its first meeting of the year in January — or for the foreseeable future. "I think they are done here," Blake Gwinn,

US job growth surged in December, surpassing expectations. The services sector drove gains, but wage growth slightly slowed. Click for more on the December jobs report.

The Federal Reserve has been "less focused on the job market recently," and today’s better-than-expected employment report "gives them more reason to put their attention elsewhere," said Ali Jaffery,

Soaring payroll growth and low unemployment in December are more than likely to keep the Federal Reserve from cutti

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 696.75 points, or 1.63%, to close at 41,938.45. The S&P 500 slid 1.54% to 5,827.04, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.63% to 19,161.63. Friday's losses pushed the major benchmarks into the red for 2025.

The surprising 256,000 increase in new jobs in December and a declining unemployment rate is good news, but the latest employment reports masks recent softness in the labor market. The increase in new jobs in December, for example, was centered on just four industries: Health care, government, retail and leisure and hospitality.

Employers added 256,000 jobs in December, blowing past economists' expectations and signaling that the job market remains resilient in the face of still-high borrowing rates and stickier-than-expected inflation.

The U.S. dollar rallied across the board on Friday after data showed the world's largest economy created more jobs than expected last month, reinforcing expectations that the Federal Reserve will pause its rate-cutting cycle at its policy meeting later this month.

Friday’s unexpectedly big increase in December nonfarm payrolls led to a diminished market-based likelihood for any rate cut by the Federal Reserve until September, based on one method of calculating expectations — and one big bank sees the risks tilting toward a rate hike.