United States: Job gains beat market expectations in December
Latest reading: Total non-farm payrolls grew by 256,000 in December, improving from 212,000 in November and easily surpassing market expectations. Employment rose in health care, government, social assistance and retail trade.
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate ticked down to 4.1% in December from 4.2% in November.
The latest data suggests that the labor market remains in good shape: Over Q4 as a whole, job gains outpaced those in Q3. This in turn should have fed through to strong private spending in the fourth quarter.
Panelist insight: TD Economics’ Thomas Feltmate said:
“There were virtually no signs of underlying weakness in the labor market in this morning’s employment report. And with progress on the inflation front showing signs of stalling in recent months, Fed officials have all the evidence they need to slow the pace of rate cuts. We still a view a March cut as likely (Fed futures are currently pricing a less than 25% probability for a March cut), though the next few months of data will be critical in shaping the final decision.”