Nonfarm payrolls beat expectations

Nonfarm payrolls in the US increased by 261,000 in October. Expectations were for an increase of 200 thousand in October. Nonfarm employment data was revised from 263,000 to 315,000 for September.

In October, the US unemployment rate was 3.7 percent. Expectations were for a 3.6 percent realization. Last month, the unemployment rate in the country was 3.5 percent. The broadly defined unemployment rate increased from 6.7 percent to 6.8 percent.

LABOR PARTICIPATION RATE DECREASED

The labor force participation rate in the country decreased from 62.3 percent to 62.2 percent.

The increase in average hourly wages increased to 0.4 percent in October. Expectations were that hourly wages would rise by 0.3 percent. The annual increase in average hourly wages decreased to 4.7 percent from 5 percent in the previous month.

After stronger-than-expected non-farm payroll figures, the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate hike to 5.25 percent in June 2023 was priced in markets.