The unemployment rate, reported by the White House, reached 4.9 percent in January for the first time since February 2008.
158,000 jobs were added in January. Wages rose 2.5 percent over the past year.
The rise of 151,000 jobs in January is somewhat below pace of recent months. The unemployment rate reached 4.9 percent for the first time since February 2008, as the labor force participation rate edged up to 62.7 percent, the same level as in March 2015.
From Jason Furman, Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers
The big sequential bounce in wages was driven entirely by the January minimum wage increase. According to zerohedge.com, 70% of the job gains in January went to minimum wage workers.