Jobs reports this morning stateside all but confirmed an interest rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve is likely later this month.
The U.S. economy created 211,000 jobs in November, a robust showing that all but guarantees Fed policy makers will raise interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade when they meet this month.
With the meeting less than two weeks away, investors, economists and central bankers the world over had been eagerly anticipating the jobs report released Friday by the U.S. Labor Department.
The unemployment rate held steady at 5%, unchanged from October.
The big gain in hiring reported for October was revised upward by 18,000, while September’s weaker payroll performance was revised upward by 8,000.
Before the report for November, economists had been looking for payrolls to rise by 200,000, with no change in the unemployment rate.
Now, many experts agree that only something economically disastrous could alter the Fed’s course to raise rates this year.
