Daily Roundup of Key US Economic Data for Feb. 11

02:19 PM EST, 02/11/2026 (MT Newswires) -- The January employment report was stronger than expected, with payrolls growth faster than expected, the unemployment rate down, and hourly earnings growth accelerated, but there were some negatives under the main figures.

Nonfarm payrolls rose by 130,000 in January after a 48,000 gain in December and a 41,000 increase in November, both revised lower from their previous estimates. BLS said that there was no obvious effect of the winter storms on the data since the impact of the weather mostly occurred after the survey period.

Private payrolls rose by 172,000, well above expectations and following a 64,000 gain in December. There was a notable job gain for health care and social assistance, which accounted for 123,500 of the job gains. However, there were declines in other categories and seasonal adjustment difficulties are common in January due to post-holiday layoffs.

Annual benchmark revisions to the establishment survey are included with the data, with total net downward revision of 898,000 jobs after seasonal adjustment. The 2025 total change in employment growth was revised down to 181,000 from 584,000, BLS said.

The unemployment rate fell to 4.3% from 4.4% in December, with the details showing improvement in the household labor picture. The labor force rose by 387,000 as labor force participation increased. Household employment rose by 528,000 while the number of unemployed fell by 141,000.

Average hourly earnings were up 0.4% in January, much faster than a 0.1% increase in December, but the year-over-year rate remained at 3.7%.

The US Treasury reported a $94.62 billion budget deficit in January, smaller than the $128.64 billion deficit reported in January 2025 due to larger receipts partially offset by slightly larger outlays.

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported a 0.3% decline in mortgage applications in the week ended Feb. 6 after an 8.9% drop in the previous week. Refinancing activity rose while new home applications fell. The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate held steady at 6.21%.

Total crude oil inventories rose by 8.5 million barrels in the week ended Feb. 6, with commercial oil inventories up 8.5 million barrels and stocks in the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve unchanged. Gasoline inventories increased last week while distillate inventories.

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