"It's an economy that is doing okay. It's not necessarily accelerating, but it's certainly doing okay".
- Jonathan Lewis, Fiera Capital
US employment growth slowed unexpectedly last month, official data revealed on Friday. According to the US Department of Labor, US private companies created 156,000 new jobs in September, while market analysts expected the economy to add 171,000 jobs in the reported month. Meanwhile, the previous month's reading was revised up to 167,000 from the originally reported gain of 151,000. Although the report suggested the economic expansion was still remaining on track, the chances of an interest rate hike at the Federal Reserve's policy meeting next month decreased markedly. However, the odds of a December rate remained quite high, despite the disappointing, despite today's disappointing jobs report. The unemployment rate grew to 5.0% in September, as more Americans re-joined the labor force. Average hourly wages rose to an annualized rate of 2.6% last month, in line with analysts' expectations, whereas the average work week grew 0.1 to 34.4 hours. A broader measure of unemployment, which includes part-time workers and people who stopped searching for jobs, held steady at 9.7% in September. Professional and job services created 67,000, health care and restaurants added 33,000 and 30,000 jobs, respectively, contributing most to the September job growth.
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