The surprising 256,000 increase in new jobs in December and a declining unemployment rate is good news, but the latest employment reports masks recent softness in the labor market. The increase in new jobs in December, for example, was centered on just four industries: Health care, government, retail and leisure and hospitality.

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.

The US economy added more jobs than forecast in December while the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Friday showed 256,000 new jobs were created in December,