S&P 500 climbs, but Nvidia slip keeps lid on gains
Investing.com - The U.S. economy added more jobs than anticipated in September, although the unemployment rate unexpectedly rose, adding to the uncertainty surrounding the Federal Reserve's policy meeting in December.
Nonfarm payrolls for the month came in at 119,000, up from a revised drop of 4,000 in August, data from the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics showed on Thursday.
Economists had anticipated a gain of 50,000 to the September payroll, while the August figure had been previously reported showing a gain of 22,000.
The unemployment rate rose to 4.4%, a four-year high, a gain from the 4.3% level seen the prior month.
Average hourly wage growth rose by 0.2% on a month-on-month basis, a drop from the 0.4% seen in August, and below the expected 0.3% rise.
This report was delayed by the lengthy shutdown of the federal government, which also means October's report will be cancelled and instead combined with November’s employment report now due on December 16.
The Fed cut interest rates by 25 basis points at the end of last month, but the minutes of that meeting, released on Wednesday, showed that policymakers were divided over the course of future policy, with “many” participants ruling out a December cut, while “several” saw a cut as likely.
The divide highlighted uncertainty over the U.S. economic outlook and prompted traders to scale back expectations for near-term easing.
Going into this payrolls release, Fed funds futures were pricing a 33% probability of a 25-basis-point cut next month, down from a 50% chance a day earlier, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool.