The Labor Department has released its first jobs report of the year, covering January 2025. It shows that payrolls grew by 143,000 - somewhat lower than economists’ expectations of 175,000. On the other hand, payroll growth for the end of 2024 was revised up quite a bit. Over the past 3 months, payroll growth has averaged a very strong 234,000.

U.S. stock indexes are holding relatively steady following a mixed report on the job market that analysts said may not change much for financial markets. The S&P 500 was up 0.2% in early trading Friday and remained on track for a modest gain for the week.