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.

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,

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.