The labor market strengthened more than expected in September as the government begins to again release official economic data following a deal to end the shutdown.
Nonfarm payrolls increased by 119,000 in September, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report released Thursday morning. Economists had expected a gain of 50,000 while the August reading was a decline of 4,000 (revised from an originally reported gain of 22,000).
The unemployment rate, however, rose to 4.4% against 4.3% expected and 4.3% in August.
This jobs report normally would have come in the first week in October, but was delayed due to the government shutdown. More topical jobs data won’t be available until mid-December.
Up modestly after strong results and outlook from Nvidia calmed markets Thursday evening, bitcoin mostly held that gain, trading at $91,900. U.S. stock index futures continued with strong Nvidia-led gains, the Nasdaq higher by 1.9%. The 10-year Treasury yield remained at 4.11% and the dollar continued with small gains.
Prior to the report, markets have more or less eliminated the chances of a Fed rate cut in December and this data isn’t likely to reverse that idea.
