Payrolls roll on
Slightly softer than expected US nonfarm payrolls for December, with an increase of +145,000 marking a record 111 consecutive gains (unbelievably, the previous record was 48!).
There were modest downward revisions to the preceding two months totalling -14,000.
This brought the 3-month average down a notch to a still-solid +184,000.
The unemployment rate was steady at 3.5 per cent, while the underemployment rate (U6) fell to a record low of 6.7 per cent, from 6.9 per cent a year earlier.
The annual growth in average hourly earnings dipped unexpectedly to 2.9 per cent, however, to be below 3 per cent for the first time since July 2018.
Not bad, despite the blip in nominal wages growth.
The Dow Jones hit 29,000 for the first time in early trade.
