“The Fed will see the report as more than adequate to stay on course to accelerate tapering of asset purchases at the December meeting, implying an end to purchases in March,” said Andrew Hollenhorst, chief US economist at Citigroup in New York. “Moreover, an unemployment rate that is poised to fall below 4% perhaps in the coming months keeps a first Fed rate hike in June or even earlier firmly on the table.
US stocks were sharply lower. The dollar was flat against a basket of currencies. US Treasury yields fell.Employment growth was held back by a decline of 20,400 jobs in the retail sector. State and local government education employment fell by 12,600 jobs. That led to a drop of 25,000 in overall government jobs, the fourth straight monthly decrease.