Washington (Archyde.com)
The US economy maintained a strong pace of job growth in December, with the unemployment rate falling to 3.5 percent, but higher borrowing costs in light of the central bank’s fight once morest inflation may lead to a significant erosion of momentum in the labor market by the middle of the year.
And the US Department of Labor said in its closely followed report yesterday that non-farm payrolls increased by 223 thousand jobs last month. November data was revised to show the creation of 256 thousand jobs instead of 263 thousand before the amendment. Economists had expected, in a Archyde.com poll, an increase in jobs by 200,000 jobs, and estimates ranged between 130,000 and 350,000 jobs. Monthly job growth was well above the pace needed to keep pace with the growth in the working-age population.
The unemployment rate fell to 3.5 percent from 3.6 percent in November. The government revised seasonally adjusted household survey data, from which the unemployment rate is extracted, for the last five years. Meanwhile, major indexes on Wall Street opened sharply higher as concerns regarding the Fed’s rate hike path receded following the December jobs report.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 125.22 points, or 0.38 percent, to 33,055.30 points, and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index opened, up 15.27 points, or 0.40 percent, to 3,823.37 points. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased by 58.72 points, or 0.57 percent, to 10,363.96 points. Near the highest level in regarding a month yesterday.
Against a basket of currencies, the dollar index jumped 0.9 percent to its highest level in nearly a month at 105.27 overnight. It is also heading for a weekly gain of more than 1.5 percent, the largest since September.
The dollar’s rise sent the pound sterling to a six-week low of $1.1873. In the latest transactions, it rose 0.12 percent to $1.1922
Similarly, the euro fell 0.8 percent to a three-week low of $1.0515 in the previous session, and was last trading flat at $1.0519.
