With the U.S. stock market closed on Good Friday, investors will have the weekend to digest an employment report that moved fed-funds-futures traders to bet on an increased chance of the Federal Reserve hiking interest rates early next month.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday the U.S. economy added 236,000 jobs in March, with the unemployment rate dipping to 3.5% from 3.6% in February. The unemployment rate remains historically low even after the Fed’s rapid rate hikes over the past year, as it aggressively tightened monetary policy to cool the economy and tame still high inflation.
“While job growth remains robust, average hourly earnings and average weekly hours suggest some cooling in the labor market,” U.S. economists at Bank of America said in a BofA Global Research note Friday. “In our view, the March employment report keeps the Fed on track to hike” its benchmark rate by a quarter percentage point at its May meeting, they said.
“We think they still probably go one more time,” said Samana, referring to his expectations for the Fed to continue hiking in May rather than pause. A quarter point hike would bring the Fed’s benchmark rate to a target range of 5% to 5.25%. In a shortened trading session on Friday, U.S. stock-market futures rose after the employment report.
Just going to new highs is all
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