If you are covering the latest US employment data, please see the following comment from Richard Carter, head of fixed interest research at Quilter Cheviot:
“The US labour market has been relatively robust, and today’s jobs report shows it continues to defy expectations despite the Fed’s interest rate hikes. 253,000 jobs were added in April, up from 236,000 in March, while the unemployment rate dipped slightly to 3.4%.
“Earlier this week the Fed moved to increase rates by 25bps and tentatively signalled that it could hold off on additional rate rises should inflation continue to ease as expected. Today’s labour market numbers are stronger than expected, so another rate hike could still be in the offing. The market would have hoped for slightly weaker numbers to help clear the path for the Federal Reserve to press pause for the time being, particularly given investor concern is becoming increasingly focused on the problems in the regional banking sector.
“The Fed's focus has primarily been on its battle with inflation rather than jobs, but the labour market has not been hit too hard as yet. However, should the momentum be knocked out of the labour market in the coming months we can still expect the Federal Reserve to draw its successive rate hikes to a close. Next week’s inflation figures will give us a clearer indication of its pace of deceleration, and with another jobs report due ahead of the next interest rate decision, there will be plenty for the Fed to consider.”
