Key Takeaways The odds of the Federal Reserve cutting its benchmark interest rate this year fell after a jobs report Friday showed hiring in December blew past expectations.Strong job growth means less pressure on the Fed to cut interest rates to save the economy and prevent layoffs.

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 Federal Reserve has been "less focused on the job market recently," and today’s better-than-expected employment report "gives them more reason to put their attention elsewhere," said Ali Jaffery,

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.

Top Wall-Street brokerages revised their Fed rate cut forecasts, after a blow-out U.S. jobs report on Friday, with BofA Global Research forecasting a potential rate hike from the central bank.

The S&P 500 dipped 0.8 percent, the Dow Jones dropped 267 points and the Nasdaq composite was down 1.1 percent Friday morning.

The economy ended 2024 with a solid labor market and a better-than-expected reading for headline unemployment.