The U.S. economy added 200,000 jobs in January giving the economy a strong start to the year amid anticipation that a Republican tax package will further boost the nearly nine-year expansion.
The unemployment rate held at 4.1 percent for the fourth straight month, the lowest level since December 2000, when it was 3.9 percent, the Labor Department reported on Friday.
There were 24,000 more jobs created in November and December than initially reported.
In the past year, the jobless rate has dropped from 4.8 percent. Employers have added jobs for 88 straight months.
Job gains have averaged 192,000 over the past three months.
The economy is expected to continue its pace of steady jobs growth this year with the help of a $1.5 trillion Republican tax package signed by President Trump.
The economy added 2.05 million jobs in 2017, the seventh straight year of annual employment growth above 2 million, which is the longest streak since the technology boom of the late 1990s.
Last week, during his visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Trump touted his economic achievements, taking credit for the steady growth in job creation and the red-hot stock market.
“After years of stagnation, the United States is once again experiencing strong economic growth,” Trump said. “The world is witnessing the resurgence of a strong and prosperous America.”
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