The US labor market appears to have continued to weaken in recent months as the government caught up on reporting that had been delayed due to the shutdown in DC.
Nonfarm payrolls increased by 64,000 in November, according to a Tuesday morning report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Economists’ estimates had been for job growth of 50,000.
The November unemployment rate rose to a four-year high of 4.6%, up from expectations of 4.4% and 4.4% in September.
In October, the economy saw a decline of 105,000 jobs compared to 119,000 added in September. However, October’s negative result was surely influenced by the government shutdown.
Taken together, the reports paint a picture of the employment situation that is at least modestly weaker than expected.
The price of bitcoin gave back some of its small overnight gains in the minutes following the report, falling to $87,000. US stock index futures turned from small gains to small losses and the 10-year Treasury yield was steady at 4.17%.
Before the data, markets were pricing in a 75% chance that the Federal Reserve would keep rates steady at its January meeting. Those odds remained the same shortly after launch.
