Economy crushed expectations with 467,000 jobs in January despite omicron surge

The economy crushed expectations in January and added 467,000 jobs, a surprising and encouraging sign that the labor market pulled through the omicron surge relatively unscathed.

The job gains for the past two months were also revised up by 710,000, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday, meaning that what had previously seemed like lackluster growth throughout the early winter was in fact robust.

The growth is particularly welcome news considering that it occurred despite the headwinds presented by the omicron variant, which suppressed commerce and kept millions of workers...