US: Mixed employment data – RBS

According to analysts at RBS, the latest US employment report was a mixed bag.

Key Quotes

“On the one hand, non-farm payrolls posted a decent 213k rise in June, above market expectations, and has averaged a healthy 211k per month in Q2. On the other, the unemployment rate surprisingly rose to 4% last month, from 3.8% in April, driven by an expanding labour force.”

“Wage growth remains sluggish. Witness a softening in average hourly earnings to 2.7%yoy in June versus 2.8%yoy in May. Still, the Fed looks set  to continued its gradual tightening stance in coming months, judging by June’s hawkish FOMC minutes.”