Payrolls beat expetcations
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics released its payrolls report and the result smashed expectations of +180,000 jobs, with the economy adding an estimated +271,000 positions in October.
It looks as though a December interest rate hike really could finally be live.
There were additional employment gains totalling +12,000 from revisions to the preceding two months, meaning that US businesses have added around 13 million jobs since the end of 2009.
Average monthly employment gains ticked up to +230,000 for the past 12 months and +206,000 for the calendar year to date (this is still some way lower than the massive +260,000 monthly average in 2014).
Meanwhile the unemployment rate ticked down to 5.0 per cent which is the lowest recorded since April 2008.
Job gains were seen across professional and business services, health care, retail trade, food services, and construction, while average earnings were up by +2.5 per cent over the year.
Markets are now pricing a 72 per cent chance of a hike in December.
The Aussie dollar dropped sharply by around 1 per cent on the news, potentially helpful news for the domestic economy.