Companies continued to expand headcounts in January with revisions to previous months showing even bigger gains as the US job market made further strides forward.

Payrolls increased by 157,000 workers following a revised 196,000 gain in the month before and a 247,000 jump in November, United States' Labor Department figures showed on Saturday. Revisions added 127,000 jobs to the tally in the last two months of 2012. A separate survey of households showed the unemployment rate unexpectedly rose to 7.9 percent from 7.8 percent.

Brighter employment prospects, which will help lessen the pain for consumers of a higher payroll tax, sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average above 14,000 for the first time since 2007. At the same time, a jobless rate that Federal Reserve policy makers have said remains too high means the central bank is likely to keep pumping money into financial markets.