More solid job growth in the United States in January has demonstrated the underlying strength in the world’s largest economy.

Payrolls increased by 257,000 last month and the numbers for November and December was significantly revised upwards by a total of 147,000.

Wages also rebounded strongly, after December’s surprise drop.

At 423,000, November’s payroll gains were the largest since May 2010. There were 329,00 jobs added in December.

While the unemployment rate increased from 5.6 percent to 5.7 percent, that was because the labour force increased in size, a sign of confidence in the jobs market.

The share of working-age Americans who are employed or at least looking for a job, also rose.

This all comes despite US economic growth slowing. Growth braked to a 2.6 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter of 2014.

The pick-up in wages, combined with lower oil prices, is likely to give a big boost to consumer spending keeping the US economy growing at a fairly healthy