The U.S. job market again defied an anticipated slowdown, with firms adding more than a quarter of a million jobs in the last full month of Joe Biden's presidency and leaving Federal Reserve policymakers to puzzle over the need for more interest rate cuts in a strong economy.

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.

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.