The strong January employment report keeps open the possibility the Federal Reserve could start raising short-term interest rates in June. The report included whopping increases in payroll employment in recent months. Revisions showed employers added 423,000 jobs in November, the largest monthly rise since September 1997, and 329,000 in December, as well as 257,000 in January. Importantly, the report also shows average hourly earnings of private sector workers rose 2.2% in January from a year earlier, a modest gain but better than the 1.7% increase in December. This supports the thesis that an improving job market is ... (full story)