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The US economy added 353,000 jobs in January, almost twice as many as expected, leading investors to rein in expectations of interest rate cuts.

Economists had expected the economy to have added 180,000 jobs last month, according to an LSEG survey.

Treasury yields jumped while stock futures dropped after publication of the figures. 

The two-year Treasury yield, which moves with interest rate expectations, built on earlier gains, rising 0.18 percentage points on the day at 4.37 per cent. 

In the futures market, traders scaled back bets that the US Federal Reserve would cut interest rates in March. Following the jobs numbers, expectations of a cut were around 19 per cent, compared to 37 per cent before the report.

S&P 500 futures dropped following the release, but remained higher on the day.

Friday’s jobs report also showed that the unemployment rate was stable at 3.7 per cent in December, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

Average hourly wage growth rose by 0.6 per cent, to $34.55, last month. Pay is up by 4.5 per cent over the past 12 months.

The January non-farm payrolls figure compares with a December number of 333,000, revised up from a first estimate of 216,000.

This is a developing story

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