The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday, Feb. 3, edition that employers in the United States delivered a stunning burst of hiring to begin 2024, adding 353,000 jobs in January in the latest sign of the economy's continuing ability to shrug off the highest interest rates in two decades. An Associated Press dispatch to The Globe reports that Friday's U.S. government report showed that last month's job gain -- about twice what economists had predicted -- topped the December gain of 333,000. The unemployment rate stayed at 3.7 per cent, just above a half-century low. Wages rose unexpectedly fast in January, too. Average hourly pay climbed a sharp 0.6 per cent from December, the fastest monthly gain in nearly two years, and 4.5 per cent from January, 2023. The strong hiring and wage growth could complicate or delay the Federal Reserve's intention to start cutting interest rates later this year. Acting Labour Secretary Julie Su brushed aside any concerns that last month's wage growth might prove inflationary. She said, "Wage growth has now been consistently beating inflation." AP says January's blowout job gain is all but sure to cause the Fed to take a cautious approach toward cutting its key interest rate.