The conditions of the American labor market are improving, despite the Shutdown, which kept government offices closed for a long period of time (three weeks). The private sector led the market, resulting in broad employment growth, while the unemployment rate edged up slightly.
The number of employed people in the non-farm sector rose by 204 in October, while the unemployment rate rose to 7,3% from 7,2% the previous month. The data on employed persons is better than the estimates of analysts who had indicated an increase of 125 units, while the unemployment rate is in line with expectations. Finally, average hourly wages rose to 24,10 dollars (+2 cents).
The total number of unemployed thus stands at 11,272 million, slightly up on the 11,255 million of the previous month. The data was communicated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) of the United States.
These data fuel expectations of possible restrictive moves by the Federal Reserve, which is evaluating the withdrawal of quantitative easing measures in the light of economic indicators.
Rising opening for Wall Street, in the wake of better-than-expected results on the employment front. The Dow Jones gained 0,17%, the Nasdaq 0,53% and the S&P500 index 0,16%.
