The U.S. economy added 467,000 jobs in January — ahead of expectations — and the unemployment rate was 4.0 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In addition, the job gains in November and December were revised up substantially, to 647,000 and 510,000, respectively.

By employment category, the biggest gains were in leisure and hospitality (151,000 jobs), professional and business services (86,000 jobs), retail trade (61,000 jobs), and transportation and warehousing (54,000 jobs).

The survey also found an increase in the labor force participation rate of 0.3 percentage points — the largest gain since June 2020 — to a rate of 62.2 percent. In a rapid reaction comment, Oxford Economics noted, “The rise in the supply of labor is surprising given the multitude of anecdotal reports that the spread of Omicron further weighed on the available supply of labor. More importantly, it shows that workers on the sidelines are starting to return more significa