US adds 288,000 jobs in one month: Best 12-month job gains since crisis
The US labour market just blew everyone's expectations out of the water.
The headline unemployment rate is down to 6.1 per cent in June from 6.3 per cent, and a jaw-droppingly high 288,000 job additions in the same month sees the US on a new record streak.
Any job additions over 284,000 would see that this was the best 12 months for employment since the crisis, and any increase over 200,000 would mark the fifth consecutive monthly jump above that benchmark.
Daiwa Capital Markets' Robert Kuenzel says that "all eyes today" are on this chunky US release, out a day earlier than its usual Friday slot as Independence Day falls tomorrow, on which markets are closed.
Yesterday's strong ADP number set the tone for today for some analysts as that measure of private payrolls saw its highest reading since November 2012. Forecasters at Societe Generale saw nonfarm payrolls adding as many as 290,000 jobs this month, well above the consensus prediction, and suggested that the unemployment rate could also dip to 6.2 per cent.
But Societe Generale's Kit Juckes suggests that more than that would be necessary for the Federal Reserve to reconsider policy. A clear acceleration in wage growth would be the necessary catalyst for change at the central bank.
Treasuries have jumped on the news, with the dollar strengthening against the euro, up to $1.36.
Have a good 4 July everyone!