Unemployment in the US remained unchanged at 5.00% as the US created another 160k jobs in April. The number of jobs was less than the 12 month average (232k) and less than the 200k expected by the economists surveyed by Reuter’s just prior to the release. Revisions were also made to February and March figures, the net effect being slightly lower than the original figures.
WBC said they latest figures plus other recent US data “suggests a slow start to Q2 for the US economy.” ANZ was a little more positive and said, “While the NFP report had something for everyone, it does confirm the ongoing improvement and absorption of slack in the US labour market.
One bit of information which was taken as a positive was rise in the average hourly earnings which unexpectedly rose to 2.5% (yoy), up from March’s figure of 2.3%. US interest rates rose modestly on the day. 2 year bond yields rose 1bp to 0.73% and 10 year bond yields finished the day at 1.78%, up 3bps.
