(updated with details)
Dec 2 (Reuters) – The U.S. economy added more jobs than expected in November and year-on-year wage growth also beat expectations as the unemployment rate remained stable, data released by Reuters on Friday from the Department of work.
According to the data, 263,000 nonfarm payrolls were created last month after 284,000 (revised from 261,000) in September.
Economists polled by Reuters predicted an average of 200,000 jobs will be created, their estimates ranging from 133,000 to 270,000.
The unemployment rate remained stable at 3.7%, as in October and as expected by the Reuters consensus.
Average hourly earnings increased by 0.6% in November, versus a consensus of +0.3% and a 0.5% increase in October (revised). Over a year, it recorded a 5.1% increase, versus a 4.6% increase expected and a 4.9% increase in October (revised).
Ahead of the open on Wall Street, index futures magnified their losses on the number read, shedding 1% to 2.2% as a buoyant job market could dissuade the Fed from cutting inflation.
Before the release of the jobs report, markets were pricing in a 91% chance of a rate hike capped at 50 basis points at the central bank’s monetary policy meeting in mid-December. That probability rose to 87% after the stats were released, according to the Fedwatch real-time barometer.
FEDWATCH.
(Written by Claude Chendjou, edited by Jean-Stéphane Brosse)
