Watch: Unemployment falls, wages rise in January report

Strong economic data for January bolstered President Donald Trump’s claims that the economy is improving.

CNBC’s Rick Santelli reported Wednesday that unemployment fell, hourly earnings rose and nonfarm payroll gains exceeded expectations.

“At 130,000, that would be the juiciest going back to April of last year, when it was 158,000,” Santelli said.

Other economic indicators reached levels not seen since last summer or even 2024, he said.

In the January 2025 jobs report, private-sector employment declined while government employment increased. That trend has since reversed under Trump, with gains in the private sector and the number of federal employees reaching its lowest level since 1966, the administration says.

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