U.S. Unemployment Rate Rose To 7.3%

The U.S. economy appears to have put the partial government shutdown well behind it as employment surged in October with employers adding much more workers than con-ensus expectations. Adding to a revised gain of 163,000 in September, the Labor De-partment said that 204,000 workers were added to payrolls. The unemployment rate rose to 7.3% from an almost five year low. The result prompted speculation that the Federal Reserve might move to accelerate it plans to taper stimulus and precipitated a surge in the U.S. dollar.

In an unfolding tragedy in the Philippines, it is estimated that as many as 10,000 people may have been killed by Super Typhoon Haiyan after it left a path of destruction in and around Tacloban City. Almost 10 million people or about 10% of the population has been affected by Haiyan. Tacloban's airport has been destroyed with only the runways remaining intact. The government has said that it is prepared to use more than $500 million for relief and rebuilding after the disaster.

It appears that investors want markets to continue to rise as both good news and bad news are spurring markets higher. Even as a better than expected payrolls result meant that tapering of stimulus might end sooner, investors instead chose to focus on the posi-tive of an improving economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose to a record close while the S&P 500 gained 1.34% to 1,770.61. Over the course of the week, Twitter rec-orded a strong rise on its debut. Earlier in Europe, bourses were mixed with the DAX falling marginally while the FTSE gained 0.17%.

Commodity prices were surprisingly unaffected by the surging U.S. dollar as investors chose to focus on a better outlook for the world economy. WTI crude firmed 0.4% to $94.60 as an international accord with Iran over its nuclear programme appeared to meet some stumbling blocks. Precious metals slumped as investors speculated that the Fed may move to taper stimulus sooner than expected. Gold lost 1.83% to $1,284.60 while silver fell 1.57% to $21.32. Copper was steady while agricultural commodities mostly gained with orange juice futures surging on crop disease.