US adds 143,000 jobs in January, less than estimates

ISTANBUL

The US economy added 143,000 jobs in January, much less than market estimates, the Labor Department said on Friday.

The market expectation for nonfarm payrolls was to show a gain of 169,000 last month.

Job additions for December, on the other hand, were revised up by 51,000, from 256,000 to 307,000.

The unemployment rate, meanwhile, fell to 4% in January from 4.1% in December.

The market estimate for the figure was to come in at 4.1%.

The number of unemployed people stood at 6.8 million in January, while the labor force participation rate was at 62.6%, according to the Labor Department.