What did you know and when did you know it? If one were to pose that Watergate-era question to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, on the issue of whether he gets an advance peak at key economic data, he could respond persuasively that he was as surprised as anybody by January’s blockbuster job numbers.
The 517,000 boom in nonfarm payrolls was more than 2½ times economists’ consensus forecast. The unemployment rate, derived from a different survey of households, fell to 3.4%, a level not seen since the mid-1960s. Digging deeper into the data revealed other robust details beyond the splashy headline numbers.
Source: https://www.barrons.com/articles/job-numbers-keep-climbing-sinking-chances-of-rate-cuts-51675473880?siteid=yhoof2&yptr=yahoo