U.S. unemployment rate falls to a 49-year low
The September U.S. unemployment rate fell to 3.7% from 3.9% in August, the lowest rate since 1969.
The U.S. non-farm payrolls rose to a seasonally adjusted 134K in September, the smallest gain in the past 12 months.
It would appear that Hurricane Florence may have had a bigger than expected negative impact on September payrolls.
Digging deeper, 150K Americans entered the labor force, keeping the number of adults working or seeking work steady at 62.7% participation rate.
Wages
Wages increased last month and advanced 2.8% as expected. The market was looking for a headline print of 185K and a 3.8% unemployment rate.
Average hourly earnings for all private-sector workers increased 8c last month to $27.24.
Today’s solid report will likely keeps the Fed on track to gradually lift its benchmark interest rate.
Today’s report showed the manufacturing, construction and health-care sectors added jobs last month, while the retail and leisure and hospitality lost jobs.
Market
Markets are swinging in both directions following the mixed report, with S&P 500 futures now down 6 points after initially gaining. The 10-year yield has backed up to 3.233% from 3.196% and the dollar also remains better bid across the board.
Canada added more jobs than expected in September, as a sharp rebound in part-time hiring pushed the unemployment rate down to 5.9%.
The economy added a net 63.3K jobs in September on a seasonally adjusted basis. Market expectations were looking for a net gain of 25K on the month.
Canada’s jobless rate eased to 5.9%, matching market expectations.
Average hourly wages advanced 2.4% in September on a one-year basis.
After initially rallying on the release, the loonie (C$1.2930) trades close to unchanged.
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