Investing.com – The U.S labor market showed that the economy created more jobs than expected in November while the jobless rate unexpectedly fell to its lowest level in more than nine years, according to official data released on Friday.
Non-farm payrolls rose 178,000 in November, compared to the rise of 142,000 in October that was revised from the initial reading of 161,000. The data beat the consensus estimate for the creation of 175,000 jobs. That
The jobless rate unexpectedly fell to 4.6% from the prior 4.9%. That was its lowest level since August 2007 and analysts had forecast no change.
Average hourly earnings fell month-on-month by 0.1%, compared to the prior increase of 0.4%. Analysts had expected a gain of 0.2%.
Year-on-year, average hourly earnings increased just 2.5%, compared to October's gain of 2.8%.
The increase in wages is being closely monitored by the Federal Reserve for evidence of diminishing slack in the labor market and upward pressure on inflation.
The participation rate edged down to 62.7% in November, from the prior reading of 62.8%.
Additionally, the private sector created less of the new job contracts than expected in November with a total of 156,000, compared to consensus expectations for 165,000.
October’s number was revised down to 135,000 private nonfarm payrolls, from the prior reading of 142,000.
Government payrolls increased by 22,000 last month, compared to the creation of 7,000 public jobs that occurred in October, revised from an initial gain of 19,000 positions.
Furthermore, the average weekly hours remained unchanged at 34.4 in November. The reading matched expectations.
Analysts had expected them to remain steady at 34.4.
Immediately after the release, the U.S. Dollar Index traded at 100.90, compared to 101.07 earlier. EUR/USD traded at 1.0653, from 1.0640 before the release, USD/JPY traded at 113.72, from 113.92, and GBP/USD was at 1.2644, compared to the previous 1.2627.
U.S. futures pointed to a slightly lower open on Wall Street. The blue-chip Dow futures dropped 0.09%, S&P 500 futures lost 0.15% and the Nasdaq 100 futures gave up 0.20%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,174.95 a troy ounce, compared to $1,173.95 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $50.79 a barrel from $50.56 earlier.