- Ahu Yildirmaz, vice president and head of the ADP Research Institute
US private sector created 208,000 jobs in November, against market expectations, but remained firmly above the 200,000 threshold for the sixth straight month. Analysts had projected a gain of 221,000 jobs. However, October's private payrolls were revised upwards to show a 233,000 gain from the previously reported 230,000. The ADP data comes ahead of the US Labor Department's non-farm employment change report on Friday, which includes both public and private sector employment and is expected to show 231,000 new jobs were added in the labour market, with the unemployment rate remaining at 5.8%. The improvement observed in the US labour market over the past few months is encouraging, as a strengthening labour market increases prospects that the Fed may move to raise interest rates sooner than expected.
A separate report showed, activity in the US services sector rose more than expected in November, though employment component dropped. According to the Institute of Supply Management, services index soared to 59.3 last month, slightly below the post-recession peak of 59.6 reached in August. In October the reading came in at 57.1. Two out of the ten sub-index, including employment and imports, declined from October, but all remained above the 50 level. In contrast, Markit's report showed growth in the US services sector fell to the lowest since April, with services PMI dropping to 56.2.
© Dukascopy Bank SA