(October 8 – 11:45 ET) – The
U.S. jobs report may have appeared
positive this morning, but
Nesbitt Burns chief
economist Sherry Cooper sees
plenty of warning signs lurking
beneath its surface.
While September’s non-farm
payrolls dropped by 8,000,
which was far below expectations,
Cooper said Hurricane Floyd
undoubtedly sabotaged the number.
Also average hourly earnings
increased 0.5%, ahead of
expectations of a 0.3% increase.
Cooper sees the lack of
employment gains and the rapidly
increasing wages as a strong
indicator of tight labour markets
in the U.S. The U.S. Federal
Reserve Board has said that the
job market picture is critical
to its decisions on rates, and it
is very worried about inflation
signals in the reports. Reading
between the lines, Cooper
clearly sees today’s report
as supportive of a rate increase
in the U.S.
– IE Staff