Charting the Global Economy: US Jobs, Inflation Send Mixed Signals for Fed
An employee carries a television for a customer outside a store in Martinez, California.
Photographer: David Paul Morris/BloombergAn unusually busy week of economic data in the US sent conflicting signals for the Federal Reserve.
January payrolls rose by the most in over a year and the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell, allaying concerns that the job-market weakness of 2025 carried over into the new year. But inflation data at the end of the week was relatively tame, boosting bets that the Fed will deliver more interest-rate cuts this year.