Black Unemployment Rate Held Steady in October

The number blew past analysts’ expectations of about 185,000 positions, a welcome sign that the American economy so far has been able to withstand headwinds from overseas.

To be sure, the Fed has the justification for rate liftoff it was looking for.

The post Stocks Mixed as Job Gains Signal Year-End Rate Hike appeared first on InvestorPlace.

Gold at 3-mth low after USA data, eyes biggest weekly drop since 2013.

The Fed has held rates near zero since late 2008 to spur USA growth and hiring amid the worst recession since the Great Depression.

Any gain above roughly 150,000 was expected to keep Fed policymakers on track to raise interest rates from record lows at their December 15-16 meeting, though the Fed will have one more jobs report, to digest before then.

So now, with the jobless rate back at a healthy 5 percent, most economists say the Fed needs to return the country to a more traditional borrowing environment. The euro fell against the dollar to $1.0737 and the dollar rose against the Japanese yen to $123.22. The data sent the dollar higher across the board. The dollar rose to a 6-1/2-month high against a basket of currencies.

“Today’s job report will influence the long-term bond market, so mortgage rates will increase in response”, Jonathan Smoke, chief economist for realtor.com, said in a statement. To the downside, immediate support level is located at 1.5025 levels.

With investors neatly divided about the possibility the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates in December, the U.S.jobs report on Friday could affect both market prices and volatility. The unemployment rate slipped a tenth of a point to 5 percent, and average hourly earnings moved up 0.4 percent, double what economists had been expecting.

And it all comes down to two reactions in the rates market following the jobs report that make December seem not just like a “live possibility”, but the real thing. It has made session high at 1.3317 and lows at 1.3283 levels.

The nation’s biggest employment gain last month came in professional and business services, which added 78,000 jobs. October was the most robust month of job growth in 2015, with total nonfarm employment increasing by 271,000. To the upside, immediate resistance can be seen at 1.3315. But it would be worrisome if the slowdown continued at the same pace as in September for many more months, which would increase questions about the underlying health of the US economy, including the extent of the remaining slack in the labor market. JPMorgan Chase rose $2.02, or 3 percent, to $68.46, Bank of America rose 64 cents, or 3.7 percent, to $17.95 and Morgan Stanley rose $1.53, or 4.5 percent, to $35.41.

Broad stock-market indexes were little changed Friday, but underlying sectors swung sharply as investors moved money out of income-yielding companies that do well during periods of low interest rates and into banks, whose profits are expected to increase as rates rise.

KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average lost 45 points, or 0.3 percent, to 17,818 as of 10:05 a.m. Eastern. The two-year note reached as high as 0.95%.

This chart shows that the Fed’s projections for interest rates have been higher than the market’s. Benchmark crude oil fell 91 cents, or 2 percent, to $44.29 a barrel and Brent crude, which is used to price global oils, fell 56 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $47.42 a barrel. It fell 4.2 percent on the week. It was down 1.3 per cent at US$1,089.21 by 2:12 pm EST (1912 GMT). It tumbled 5 percent on the week.