US employers add jobs but consumers gloomy
Sunday, 9 December 2007
WASHINGTON, Dec 8 (Reuters): US employers added 94,000 jobs in November and the unemployment rate held steady, the government said Friday in a report suggesting the US economy was slowing, but not tumbling into recession.
In Wall Street's eyes, the signs of steady if somewhat tepid job growth buttressed the case for only a modest interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve next week, not the large half-percentage point reduction some had begun to expect.
A separate report, however, showed US consumers' mood grew darker in December, while another suggested consumer credit tightened in October in the wake of financial market strains.
"Current employment gains are not robust, but sufficient to keep the consumer out of serious trouble," said Stephen Gallagher, chief US economist for Societe Generale in New York, noting that Americans were battling with slumping home prices and soaring energy costs.
Major US stock indexes closed little changed, but prices for US government bonds fell as investors saw the data making a quarter-point rate cut from the Fed Tuesday the most certain outcome.
The Labour Department said the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.7 per cent in November, but it substantially revised its estimates for job growth in the two prior months to show a less vigorous pace of hiring.
The department said 170,000 jobs were added in October instead of 166,000 it reported a month ago and slashed its estimate for September new jobs to 44,000 from 96,000 -- a net decrease of 48,000 over the two months.
In Wall Street's eyes, the signs of steady if somewhat tepid job growth buttressed the case for only a modest interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve next week, not the large half-percentage point reduction some had begun to expect.
A separate report, however, showed US consumers' mood grew darker in December, while another suggested consumer credit tightened in October in the wake of financial market strains.
"Current employment gains are not robust, but sufficient to keep the consumer out of serious trouble," said Stephen Gallagher, chief US economist for Societe Generale in New York, noting that Americans were battling with slumping home prices and soaring energy costs.
Major US stock indexes closed little changed, but prices for US government bonds fell as investors saw the data making a quarter-point rate cut from the Fed Tuesday the most certain outcome.
The Labour Department said the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.7 per cent in November, but it substantially revised its estimates for job growth in the two prior months to show a less vigorous pace of hiring.
The department said 170,000 jobs were added in October instead of 166,000 it reported a month ago and slashed its estimate for September new jobs to 44,000 from 96,000 -- a net decrease of 48,000 over the two months.