The monthly figure from the US Department of Labor is traditionally seen as an important indicator for the American central bank Federal Reserve when it comes to how to act regarding potential interest rate cuts.
A too strong labor market can mean that interest rate cuts are paused. Today's figure was, however, mixed. 143,000 new jobs were indeed lower than market expectations, which were at 175,000 new jobs. It was also significantly lower than the revised 307,000 new jobs in December.
At the same time, the unemployment rate was lower than expected, 4.0 percent, compared to expected 4.1 percent. Investors have become increasingly cautious over the past six months regarding the extent to which the Fed will actually implement further interest rate cuts. Currently, the assessment is two to under 2025, but not in the near future.
In the futures market on the New York Stock Exchange, the new statistics do not have a significant impact either, with futures pointing slightly downward ahead of the opening. Nor has the Stockholm Stock Exchange been affected to any significant extent.
