The US Bureau of Labor Statistics conducted its annual revision of data, which took affect with today’s release of monthly jobs numbers. Revised data shows the US lost 4,100 temp jobs in January from December, and the temp penetration rate — which had reached new highs for much of 2014 — fell to 2.033% in January from the revised percentage of 2.039% in December.

JP Morgan Analyst Andrew Steinerman in a research note indicated the decline in temporary help jobs looked odd given temp numbers’ better-than-average performance on a seasonally adjusted basis.

The revised data reduced the number of temp jobs added between December 2014 and December 2013 by 38,200 from the initially reported number. Still, the US added 178,400 temp jobs in 2014, according to the revised data. Switching to January, the seasonally adjusted year-over-year temp growth rate was the best in the last 12 months, according to the revised data (see chart below).

Overall, the US added 257,000 nonfarm jobs in January based on the revised data. The unemployment rate edged up to 5.7% in January from 5.6% in December. The college-level unemployment rate, which can serve as a proxy for professional employment, slipped to 2.8% in January from 2.9% in December.

MarketWatch reports companies are hiring at the fastest pace since 1997, with evidence emerging that a rapidly improving labor market might finally be leading to higher wage growth.

“Given the strong employment growth, the uptick in the unemployment rate is mostly noise in the data, which will be followed by rapid declines in the months ahead,” The Conference Board stated. “The recovery in the average hourly earnings in January aligns it better with the Employment Cost Index, released last week, which shows modest acceleration in wages. As the labor market continues to tighten, we expect to see acceleration in wage growth in 2015.”

Click on charts to enlarge.

*US Bureau of Labor Statics data after annual revision.