U.S. employers added 165,000 jobs in October, far above forecasts, and the unemployment rate dipped to 4.1%. The report lifted traders' odds of a December Federal Reserve rate hike.
The U.S. economy added 165,000 jobs in October, compared with the Dow Jones estimate of 59,000, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. The unemployment rate edged down to 4.1% from a forecast of 4.2%.
Revisions and wages add to the beat
Prior months also moved higher. August was revised up by 53,000 to 186,000, while September's count rose by 31,000 to 60,000. Average hourly earnings increased 0.4% on the month and 3.1% annually, against estimates of 0.3% and 2.9%.
Hiring spread across sectors. Professional and business services led with 70,000 jobs, followed by health care at 42,000, whereas health care had accounted for the bulk of gains in the earlier trend.
Traders lean toward a December rate hike
The data lands as Fed officials weigh whether to resume raising rates in December. According to CME Group's FedWatch tool, odds of a quarter percentage point hike at the Dec. 8-9 meeting rose to 76.8%. CoinDesk reported that before the data, odds of a rate hike had fallen to about 70% from roughly 95% just weeks ago.
Markets reacted little. Bitcoin traded at $75,800 after the release, and the 10-year Treasury yield rose 6.4 basis points to 4.894%.
CoinDesk wrote that next week's CPI and PPI reports will likely matter more to the Fed's decision on a rate hike, as will whether the equity market stabilizes.
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