US jobs report smashes expectations, triggering dollar rebound
The US job creation engine accelerated dramatically last month, further bolstering the case for a rate hike at the Federal Reserve’s meeting later this month. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 162,000 jobs were added in August—representing a massive overshoot relative to the 55,000-position consensus forecast—while the previous two months were revised down by a total -23,000 positions, bringing the three-month average pace of job creation up to 71,000, from 30,000 ahead of the update. Perhaps more crucially, the unemployment rate held at 4.1%, and average hourly earnings climbed 0.3% month-over-month, speeding up from the 0.1% pace set in...