U.S. employers added a surprisingly strong 130,000 jobs last month, but government revisions cut 2024-2025 U.S. payrolls by hundreds of thousands.

U.S. employers added just 181,000 jobs last year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Wednesday, 69 percent fewer than its initial estimate of 584,000. The agency also lowered its estimate of job growth in 2024 by nearly 28 percent. In total, the U.S. economy has more than a million fewer jobs than previously reported.

Follow MarketWatch's live coverage of the January jobs report, and what it could mean for the U.S. economy and financial markets.

The Labor Department is expected to report Wednesday that companies, government agencies and nonprofits added 75,000 jobs last month, according to a survey of forecasters by the data firm FactSet.

While the jobs report will likely draw the economic headlines, especially since the Federal Reserve has said it is concerned about the labor market, there will also be a crucial update on the inflation picture on Friday with the release of January’s consumer price index.