January adds a much stronger-than-expected 225,000 jobs, with a boost from warm weather

WASHINGTON — An unseasonably mild January helped power the U.S. jobs market to more gains, with nonfarm payrolls rising 225,000 for the month, well above Wall Street estimates.

The unemployment rate ticked higher to 3.6%, but for the right reason as the labor force participation rate increased 0.2 percentage points to 63.4%, matching its highest level since June 2013, according to data released Friday by the Labor Department.

Economists surveyed by Dow Jones were looking for payroll growth of 158,000 and the jobless rate to stay at 3.5%, its lowest in more than 50 years.

A more encompassing labor market indicator that includes discouraged workers and those holding part-time positions for economic reasons also moved higher, rising 0.2 percentage points to 6.9%. The so-called real unemployment rate previously had been at its lowest level in the history of the data series.

However, the employment-to-population ratio in the household survey rose to 61.2%, its highest since November 2008 and 0.5 percentage points higher than a year ago.