every morning knowing they can provide for their families with the dignity and sense of self-worth that had been missing. we also learned the unemployment rate fell to 3.4%. 3.4%. that s the lowest in a 54 years. the last time unemployment rate was that low was may of 1969. think about that. what s more, black and hispanic unemployment are near record lows. this matters. the more working age folks coming into the labor market in the last month than have in a long while. all the talk about no one looking. we keep more people coming into the market. more people are coming into the market looking for jobs and getting jobs. a positive sign for the health in the economy going forward. even as the job market reaches historic highs inflation continues to come down. inflation is now falling for six straight months. gas prices are down more than $1.50 a gallon since their peak.
rates. you can see job growth for the most part slowed down, and then boom, you have today s number. that is very surprising to see this acceleration, and this has lowered the unemployment rate to 3.4%. that is not just a post-covid low, this is the lowest since may of 1969. just before neil armstrong and buzz aldrin walked on the moon. pretty incredible. it s also surprising because we keep hearing about all these tech layoffs, amazon, meta, microsoft, alphabet, all have laid off thousands of workers. two important things to remember, one, tech is a small part of the economy overall, and two, these workers have in demand skills and they can quickly get rehired. today s numbers suggest that a lot of bosses across the committee, they re more worried about letting go of the workers they have than keeping the ones they have. basically the bottom line it seems to me you re saying this was way hotter than expected and with the fed trying to cool down
brakes and yet the jobs market is speeding up. which is just incredible. this 517,000 jobs added in january, that is not just more than double the estimate, it s actually 200,000 jobs stronger than even the most optimistic forecaster. you can see on the chart, it has hiring clearly accelerated, and unemployment rate down to 3.4% the spike on the screen on the left is in the spring of 2020 almost 15% the new number is not just a post covid low. it is the lowest since may of 1969, which is just before man first walked on the moon. pretty amazing. and probably wondering who is hiring? just about everyone, there was widespread job growth, you look restaurants and bars added almost 100,000 jobs, government, healthcare, retail, construction, manufacturing, hotels, all of them adding a jobs in january, by all accounts the jobs market is still somehow
3.4%, 3.4%. that s the lowest in 54 years. the last time unemployment was that low was may of 1969. think about that. what s more black and hispanic unemployment are near record lows. this matters. cnn s matt egan diving deeper into this labor report. what are you seeing, matt? this job report was hot, shockingly hot. this would be like if you went to bed thinking it would be 50 degrees and you wake up and it s 90 degrees. you re amazed by these numbers. just to give you context around this 517,000 jobs added, that s 200,000 jobs higher than even the most optimistic forecaster on wall street was expecting. as the president mentioned, the unemployment rate down to 3.4%, the lowest since 1969 and a far cry from that peak in 2020 of almost 15%.
capitol hill with speaker mccarthy demanding a briefing for the gang of eight leaders. in the last hour, president biden pointedly avoided questions about it at the white house, instead focusing on the new red hot jobs report with more than 500,000 jobs added in january. well, we may face setbacks along the way, there will be some, but more work to do is clear. our plan is working because of the grit and resolve of the american worker. unemployment now at its lowest it s been since may of 1969, the year we landed on the moon. a conundrum as the federal reserve tries to cool down the economy to fight inflation. what it means for your wallet and the economy. also on our radar this morning, a historic arctic blast impacting tens of millions over the next 36 to 48 hours. with meteorologists throwing around words like epic and generational, it could be the coldest weather the region has seen in decades. what you need to know about this looming cold emergency. we re going to start wi