US jobs in fastest rise since July 2016

The better-than-expected figures came after Donald Trump’s tax cuts buoyed business and consumer confidence in the world’s biggest economy – though wage growth slowed.

America’s unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.1%.

The figures delivered a boost for President Donald Trump as he faces domestic and political criticism over his plans to levy steep tariffs on steel and aluminium imports.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average opened about 1% higher.

Economists had expected the closely-watched non-farm payrolls data to show an increase of 200,000.

But a strong performance from the construction sector – which saw the largest gain since 2007 – saw the number comfortably beat forecasts.

Wage growth came down, from 2.8% to 2.6% – a development that may temper expectations about the pace of interest rate rises by the US Federal Reserve this year

The employment report suggested that the economy remained strong despite weak consumer spending, home sales, industrial production and a widening trade deficit.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: “A much stronger-than-expected non-farm payrolls number of 313,000 and upward revisions to January and December’s figures are likely to keep the US Federal Reserve on a state of alert.”