WSJ’s Timiraos: its a weird payroll report

The WSJ’s Timiraos called the US jobs report weird in a tweet that outlined a WSJ article. “Hiring smashed expectations”, but “no decline in the unemployment rate”. The average hourly earnings were also little lesson expectations.

In the article:

• U.S. job growth exceeded expectations with 336,000 jobs added in September, the highest since January, and an upward revision of July’s numbers.
• The surge in employment led to a significant selloff in the bond market, pushing longer-term borrowing rates to a 16-year high (yields are still higher but off highs)
• The strong job market keeps the option open for the Federal Reserve to increase interest rates again this year, despite concerns of a slowdown due to high interest rates, inflation, and other economic factors.
• The unemployment rate remained at 3.8%, with employers increasing wages to compete for workers; average hourly earnings rose 4.2% year-over-year in September.
• Employment in restaurants and bars returned to pre-pandemic levels, with significant job additions in hospitals, nursing homes, and trucking, partly due to increased hiring for the new school year.
• The robust jobs report could challenge the Federal Reserve’s efforts to slow the economy and raises questions about the sustainability of the summer’s inflation decline.
• The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield exceeded 4.8% for the first time since 2007, increasing the costs of home mortgages, auto loans, and business debt, and introducing a new economic risk.
• The Federal Reserve maintained its key interest rate at a 22-year high in its last meeting, with the possibility of another increase this year to combat inflation.