Federal Reserve official Nick Timiraos latest statement: U.S. non-farm payrolls in December increased by only 50,000, with private sector employment rising by 37,000. Notably, the data for October and November were significantly revised—downward by a total of 76,000, indicating that the resilience of the labor market was overestimated earlier. The good news is that the unemployment rate fell from the revised 4.5% in November to 4.4%. This set of data signals a gradual cooling of the labor market, which may have some influence on the future direction of Federal Reserve policies.