US job growth likely remained firm in January, with a rebound in wages, supporting views that consumers will have enough muscle to carry the economy through tough times. Nonfarm payrolls probably increased 234,000 last month after advancing by 252,000 in December, according to a Reuters survey of economists. It would be the 12th straight month of job gains above 200,000, the longest streak since 1994. “That would be seen as encouraging given everything that is going on in the rest of the world and would reinforce the notion that consumer spending will remain a key pillar of support for the US economy,” said Millan Mulraine, deputy chief economist at TD Securities in New York.
