'Humdinger' US jobs growth strengthens faith in recovery and sets off market rally
Jobs growth in the U.S far out-stripped hopes in January, sparking
optimism that the world's largest economy is now on a firm recovery
path and giving world markets a boost.
Some 243,000 posts were created last month against a forecast 150,000,
while the jobless rate fell to 8.3 per cent from 8.5 per cent against
expectations it would be static.
Job additions in earlier months were also revised upwards, suggesting
the employment situation is healthier than previously believed.
Welcome trend: Latest U.S. jobs figures suggest the employment situation in the world's biggest economy is healthier than previously believed
The newer figure for December was 203,000, up from 200,000. But the revision for December was more significant, coming in at 157,000 instead of the earlier estimate of 100,000.
'January's US jobs figures were a humdinger. They smashed expectations and will be a fillip to markets globally,' said Marcus Bullus, trading director at MB Capital.
'The U.S. economy is growing and it's continuing to add jobs at an impressive rate. That's two claims the eurozone would love to be able to make.
'The divergence between the U.S. and European economies is becoming more pronounced by the day.'
David Miller, Partner at Cheviot Asset Management, said: 'Historically January numbers have been hard to predict because of seasonal effects. The figures today confirm that a steady recovery is underway in the U.S and this will be well received by the markets.'
The Dow Jones in New York jumped 93.7 points to 12,799.2 following the upbeat jobs figures.
Top European markets also racked up gains – the FTSE 100 climbed 72.6 points to 5,868.7, Germany's DAX was 98.7 points higher at 6,754.3 and France's CAC 40 moved up 28.4 points to 3,405.1.
The U.S. dollar also gained against the pound to trade at $1.58.
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