Nonfarm Payrolls in the US rose by 223,000 in December, the data published by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed on Friday. This reading came in much higher than the market expectation of 200,000 and followed November’s increase of 256,000 (revised from 263,000).
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Further details of the publication revealed that the Unemployment Rate declined to 3.5% in December from 3.6% in November. The Labor Force Participation Rate improved modestly to 62.3% from 62.1% and the annual wage inflation, as measured by the Average Hourly Earnings, declined to 4.6% from 4.8%, compared to market expectation of 5%.
Market reaction
With the initial reaction, the US Dollar Index retreated from daily highs and was last seen rising 0.22% on the day at 105.37.
