- Janet Yellen, Fed Chairwoman
US non-farm payroll growth continued to gather speed from October said, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as the world's number one economy created 211,000 jobs last month, a solid pace that would help push the economy closer to full employment. Economists had expected the 200,000 increase. The jobless rate remained steady at a seven-year low of 5.0%. The average increase in payrolls over the past three months is now 218,000, the strongest since July. In addition to that, average hourly earnings climbed 0.2% last month, in line with expectations, slowing after a big increase a month earlier. As a result, the 12-month change slid to 2.3%, closer to the trend in recent years.
The jobs report is widely considered as the most significant monthly indicator of economic health, and earlier this week Fed Chair Janet Yellen said she still wanted to see more data before making a decision about a potential rate hike at the FOMC's meeting in less than two weeks. If the Fed raises interest rates for the first time in almost a decade, it would end an unprecedented period of easy borrowing that helped boost investment and spending. Yet, Yellen reiterated that interest-rate hikes will be slow and gradual in the months ahead due to sluggish growth overseas as well as divergent monetary policies between the US and other nations.
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