This month’s announcement of the monthly U.S. Non-Farm Employment Payrolls change came in almost exactly in line with the market’s expectations, with 211,000 new jobs announced compared to the expected number of 200,000. The overall unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5%, and average earnings increased in line with expectations by 0.2%.
The market consensus is already expecting the U.S. Federal Reserve to raise rates on 16th December for the first time in approximately nine years. Today’s announcements do not change that expectation.
One hour after the announcements, key currencies and stock indices were little changed. The U.S. dollar was trading unchanged against the Euro, up 0.31% against the Japanese Yen, and up 0.37% against the Swiss Franc.
The S&P 500 Index was down 0.09% at 2054.9 points.