Strong US jobs data signals March rate hike

14 March 2017

US Non-farm Payroll figures for February surprised markets with the addition of 235K new jobs. The figure is 23% higher than the consensus forecast of 190K. This came with an acceleration in wage growth of 2.8% with the largest increases being seen across the construction and manufacturing sectors. February's robust numbers forced market expectations for a March rate hike to rise off the news. In opening trading US stock markets reacted positively to the news