The Non-Farm Payroll numbers reported on Friday showed a growth of 215,000 workers over the last month following a gain of 245,000 in February. The report also showed that the economy was improving slowly and was pulling many Americans into the workforce albeit at part-time jobs. A separate poll of households showed the jobless rate ticked up to 5 percent from 4.9 percent as people streamed into the labor force looking for work, and not all were successful. Average hourly earnings gained seven cents after slipping in February.
The labor market seems to have moved past key factors contributing to a slowing global economic growth. The robust U.S. dollar that has hurt manufacturing exports and pressure on energy sector profits from cheap oil have also not succeeded in keeping Americans away from entering the job market.
According to Millan Mulraine, deputy chief economist at TD Securities in New York, “This is an ideal situation for the Fed. The strong pace of job growth is being offset by the increase in entrants into the labor force, which will reduce any concerns about labor market tightness fostering outsized wage inflation."
GBP/USD Rebound Expected
Fed Chair Janet Yellen’s dovish outlook for monetary policy hinted at in her speech last week has reached across the Channel and data out this week should suggests that the British Pound will continue to consolidate ahead of the next Bank of England (BoE) interest-rate decision on April 14 and may generate a near-term rebound in.
An increase in the U.K. Purchasing Manager Indices due out this week may boost the allure of the sterling and focus on an improved outlook for the region following the unexpected upward revision in the 4Q Gross Domestic Product (GDP) report. The economy posted an annualized 2.1% rate of growth during the last three-months of 2015 possibly prompting the BoE to adopt a more hawkish tone over the coming months as the central bank remains adamant that the next move will be to normalize monetary policy.
And despite the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) ‘s expected retention of its current policy ahead of the U.K. Referendum in June, positive data may generate a near-term rebound in the sterling as it boosts interest-rate expectations.