Slowdown in Wage Gains Muddies Picture of Tight U.S. Job Market
- Average hourly earnings rose 2.5% in January from year earlier
- Investors pare bets on steepness of Fed rate hikes in 2017
Bill Gross Says January Jobs Report Is 'Schizophrenic'
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Just when the U.S. labor market looked like it was getting tight, worker paychecks are giving more of a mixed picture.
Data released Friday showed employers added 227,000 jobs to payrolls in January, the most in four months and above the 163,000 average pace projected by economists for 2017. Average hourly earnings rose 2.5 percent from a year ago, the weakest since August. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.8 percent as the participation rate increased.