Highlights of the November 2016 US nonfarm payrolls report

  • Prior was 161K (revised to 142K)
  • Two month net revision -2k
  • Unemployment rate 4.6% vs 4.9% expected
  • Participation rate 62.7% vs 62.8% prior
  • Private payrolls 156K vs 142K prior
  • Manufacturing payrolls -4K vs -2K exp
  • Underemployment rate 9.3% vs 9.5% exp

Wages and inflation:

  • Average hourly earnings -0.1% vs +0.2% expected
  • Average hourly earnings 2.5% y/y vs 2.8% expected
  • Average weekly hours 34.4 vs 34.4 expected

That big miss in average hourly earnings takes the shine of a very good headline. There's a wing of the Fed (and of markets) that believes something has changed in the labor market and all that it can create is $10/hour jobs.

The kneejerk in the market has been to sell the US dollar.