That's the biggest jump in wages since November 2008.
That's after a disappointing December. Last month's report showed that average hourly earnings declined month-over-month by 0.2%, the first decline since July 2013.
Economists surveyed by Bloomberg were looking for 0.3% month-over-month growth in January.
Deutsche Bank's Joe LaVorgna expected 0.2%.
"Most importantly, we are interested to see if the unexpected drop in December average hourly earnings (-0.2%) is revised away, which is possible," he wrote in a note this week. "Thus far, wage pressures have been largely muted. However, we doubt wage inflation will remain contained much longer if the labor market continues to generate 200k-plus monthly payroll gains alongside weak productivity readings."