Employment: U.S miss, Canada beat expectations

U.S unemployment rate falls to a 49-year low

The September U.S unemployment rate fell to +3.7% from +3.9% in August, the lowest rate since 1969.

The U.S non-farm payrolls rose to a seasonally adjusted +134K in September, the smallest gain in the past 12-months.

It would appear that Hurricane Florence may have had a bigger than expected negative impact on September payrolls.

Digging deeper, +150K Americans entered the labor force, keeping the number of adults working or seeking work steady at +62.7% participation rate.

Wages

Wages increased last month and advanced +2.8% as expected. The market was looking for a headline print of +185K and a +3.8% unemployment rate.

Average hourly earnings for all private-sector workers increased +8c last month to +$27.24.

Today’s solid report will likely keeps the Fed on track to gradually lift its benchmark interest rate.

Today’s report showed the manufacturing, construction and health-care sectors added jobs last month, while the retail and leisure and hospitality lost jobs.

Market

Markets are swinging in both directions following the mixed report, with S&P 500 futures now down 6 points after initially gaining. The 10-year yield has backed up to +3.233% from +3.196% and the dollar also remains better bid across the board.

Canada added more jobs than expected in September, as a sharp rebound in part-time hiring pushed the unemployment rate down to +5.9%.

The economy added a net +63.3K jobs in September on a seasonally adjusted basis. Market expectations were looking for a net gain of + 25K on the month.

Canada’s jobless rate eased to +5.9%, matching market expectations.

Average hourly wages advanced +2.4% in September on a one-year basis.

After initially rallying on the release, the loonie (C$1.2930) trades close to unchanged.

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