Markets were jolted by disappointing jobs numbers on Friday as sluggish hiring and tame wage growth in the US overshadowed a fall in the nation’s unemployment rate to a 16-year low, reports a global media Saturday.
Non-farm payrolls grew by 138,000 in May, while gains in March and April were collectively revised down by 66,000, according to the Bureau of Labour Statistics. Year-on-year earnings growth was flat at 2.5 per cent, while retail jobs fell for the third month running amid a shakeout in the sector.
The figures do not change the picture of an economy that is growing steadily and closing in on full employment, and they are unlikely to deter the US Federal Reserve from a heavily-trailed quarter-point rate rise at its meeting this month. But they will cast doubt over the policy outlook in the coming year given persistently sluggish inflation numbers.
The dollar slipped to its lowest level since the election of Donald Trump in November in response to the figures, while Treasury yields retreated. The dollar index was down 0.52 per cent against a basket of its major trading peers at 96.720. US 10-year treasury yields slipped as much as 5.75 basis points to 2.154 per cent - the lowest since the days following the election.