US unemployment posted a surprise fall in November, down from 9% to 8.6%, supported by an increase in non-farm payroll employment to 120,000 in November.
The upsurge was broadly in line with market expectations. Analysts had predicted an increase of 125,000 jobs in November, but unemployment was expected to remain unchanged at 9%. The US Labor Department reported private companies created 140,000 jobs, while the public sector saw 20,000 jobs cut. The Labor Department also revised non-farm payroll employment for October and September upwards. The October figure rose from 80,000 to 100,000, while September's number went up from 158,000 to 210,000. The last time US unemployment fell below 9% was in March this year. This is the lowest...
To continue reading this article...
Join Investment Week for free
- Unlimited access to real-time news, analysis and opinion from the investment industry, including the Sustainable Hub covering fund news from the ESG space
- Get ahead of regulatory and technological changes affecting fund management
- Important and breaking news stories selected by the editors delivered straight to your inbox each day
- Weekly members-only newsletter with exclusive opinion pieces from leading industry experts
- Be the first to hear about our extensive events schedule and awards programmes