Weak Jobs Data Unlikely To Halt Fed’s QE Exit

New York (Jan 10)  Millan Mulraine, deputy head of U.S. research and strategy at TD Securities, says there is some evidence of faltering momentum in the U.S. labor market, as 74,000 new jobs were created in December, well below economist expectations. However, he adds the “miserly” jobs report is unlikely to halt the Federal Reserve’s plans to end its quantitative easing measures this year. “Despite the disappointing performance in December, the U.S. economy recorded a very robust 2.2 million jobs gain in 2013, adding to a similar increase the year before, and with other indicators of economic health posting to continued upside momentum in activity, we view this report as more an anomaly in an otherwise uptrend in employment activity.