(March 3 – 12:00 ET) – Today’s U.S. jobs report will help calm interest rate hike fears says Nesbitt Burns’ chief economist..

Sherry Cooper says the report is not the start of a major slowdown in the U.S. economy, nor is it likely to completely erase the inflation fears at the U.S. Federal Reserve Board,
but it should provide some salve. Cooper expects the Fed will still raise rates at its March 21 meeting, but she says “this probably puts concerns of a 50 basis point move to rest.”

Stock markets are definitely keying on the positive in this report. The Dow and the Nasdaq are climbing this morning. The Nasdaq jumped an incredible 91 points in the first minute of trading, although it has cooled since then.

This morning the U.S. Department of Labor reported that non-farm payrolls grew far slower than expected. Average hourly earnings were right in line with expectations. And the unemployment rate unexpectedly grew 0.1% to 4.1%. Construction industry jobs fell after large gains in January.

With the Fed pointing to the tight labour market as a sure sign of inflation, traders are taking some comfort in the surprisingly gentle report in both the stock and bond markets.