- Dan North, Euler Hermes North America
US private companies added fewer than expected jobs last month, whereas the unemployment rate improved slightly, the October Non-Farm Payrolls report showed on Friday. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the US economy created 161,000 new jobs in the reported period, while market analysts expected non-farm payrolls to increase by 174,000. Meanwhile, the September gain was revised up to 191,000 from the originally reported 156,000. However, the odds of a December rate remained quite high, despite today's disappointing jobs report. Furthermore, average hourly earnings advanced 2.8% and 0.4% on annual and monthly basis, respectively, while average weekly remained unchanged at 34.4 last month. The unemployment rate declined unexpectedly to 4.9% in October, following the preceding month's 5.0%. After the release, the US Dollar declined slightly against other major currencies, trading at 1.1111 against the Euro and 103.10 against the Japanese Yen. Separately, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said on Friday that the US trade deficit narrowed to $36.44 billion in the same month from September's gap of $40.46 billion, which was revised up from the originally reported $40.70 billion deficit. Economists expected the US trade gap to decrease to $37.80 billion during October.
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