Hillary Barsky

The unemployment rate is anticipated to hold steady at 4.4% in January for the second month in a row, down from a four-year high of 4.6% in November.

To put it in perspective, the April 2023 reading of 3.4% marked the lowest in 54 years.

Employment has been growing at a slow clip, with the economy adding the fewest jobs last year outside of a recession since 2003.

Hillary Barsky, Fox News.

After three consecutive cuts, central bankers are widely expected to leave the benchmark lending rate unchanged at 3.5% to 3.75%.

However, the focus will be on the Fed's policy statement and Chair Jerome Powell's post-meeting press conference for clues on the path ahead.

It will be Powell's first commentary since he revealed that the Justice Department is investigating him.

The big question is when will the Fed start lowering rates again, which could depend on a faltering job market or inflation that resumes falling towards the Fed's 2% goal.

Hillary Barsky, Fox News.

Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal are expecting that employers added around 73,000 jobs last month, which is an increase from November's 64,000 gain.

The Labor Department's most recent figures have indicated that around 22,000 jobs were added a month in the three months through November.

A slowdown from an average pace of more than 100,000 jobs per month between January and March of 2025.

The unemployment rate is expected to edge lower to 4.5% from 4.6%.

Joblessness rose gradually through most of last year, but still the unemployment rate remains relatively modest by historical standards.

Hillary Barsky, Fox News.