The U.S. job market again defied an anticipated slowdown, with firms adding more than a quarter of a million jobs in the last full month of Joe Biden's presidency and leaving Federal Reserve policymakers to puzzle over the need for more interest rate cuts in a strong economy.

Minutes suggest that Fed policymakers were already returning to the data-dependent mindset in the face of the incoming Trump administration. Now investors can only wait and hope.

Before the strong December jobs report was released, the odds were already low for an interest rate cut in the next Federal Reserve decision on January 29.

St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem suggests greater caution is warranted on reducing interest rates.

The odds of a rate cut from the Federal Reserve are getting slimmer by the day. Markets are pricing in a 95% chance that the Fed keeps borrowing costs unchanged at its Jan. 30 decision. That’s up from 94% yesterday,

Friday’s unexpectedly big increase in December nonfarm payrolls led to a diminished market-based likelihood for any rate cut by the Federal Reserve until September, based on one method of calculating expectations — and one big bank sees the risks tilting toward a rate hike.

(Reuters) - Traders on Friday bet the Federal Reserve will wait until at least June to reduce its policy rate, and end its rate-cutting cycle there after government data showed employers added far more jobs than expected in December.