The January jobs report came in unexpectedly hot, stopping the rally that investors have seen so far this year in its tracks.
517,000 jobs were added to the economy last month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Analysts had expected 185,000 jobs.
Unemployment has reached 3.4%, a level not seen since 1969.
The data comes after the Federal Reserve announced it raised interest rates by 25 basis points on Wednesday.
The Fed has been aggressively hiking rates to combat inflation and it utilizes the jobs market as a metric in that battle.
"The CMEGroup's FedWatch tool now suggests an 94.5% chance of a follow-on hike of 25 basis points in March, up from around 82% prior to the data release, but still sees that as the last hike of the cycle, even as Powell indicated a preference for "a couple more" moves to the upside," TheStreet's Martin Baccardax pointed out.
Some investors had been hoping for a reprieve from the hikes this spring so long as the Fed managed a favorable outcome against inflation. However, the January jobs report is working against that hope.
And all of this is happening as tech companies announces thousands of layoffs and Wall Street worries about a recession.
Baccardax joins TheStreet Today to discuss the jobs market, what it means for the Fed and more.
