Nonfarm payrolls beat expectations, probability of Fed December rate hike rises to 80%

TechFlow — On November 6, the U.S. government's jobs report released on Friday showed that job growth last month beat expectations, leading traders to further increase their bets on the Federal Reserve raising interest rates again in December. The report indicated that the U.S. unemployment rate edged down slightly to 4.1%, with employers adding 165,000 jobs, more than double what economists had predicted. Following the report's release, futures contracts tied to the Fed's policy rate suggested an approximately 80% probability of a 25-basis-point rate hike next month. Prior to the report, traders had priced in roughly a 75% probability of a December rate increase. (Jin10)