The jump in US payrolls last month had a major impact on financial markets. The dollar surged higher, the oil price is higher by 3.55%, and Brent crude oil is now above $80 per barrel, the highest level since October. Equities are lower, and although bond yields surged in the minutes after the release, they have retreated as we have progressed through the afternoon.
US payrolls expanded by 256k last month, beating the 165k expected and higher than the downwardly revised 212k for November. Far from moderating as analysts expected, the US labour market is expanding at a decent clip. This was the 48th month of expansion. The largest number of jobs were created in the education and health services sector, however, there was an unexpected increase in trade, transportation, and utilities jobs, this comes after jobs in this sector contracted in November. Usually increases…
