US non-farm payrolls rose by 223,000 in April

The US labour market generated almost exactly the number of jobs which markets had been predicting but wage pressures continued to be muted.

Non-farm payrolls rose by 223,000 in April, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), although the readings for the previous two months were revised lower by a combined 39,000.

The consensus forecast had been for an increase of 220,000.

To take note of, April tends to be the strongest month of the year for the US jobs market as it benefits from both positive seasonal and calendar effects, Bill Hubard, chief economist at Bankor, pointed out in a research note e-mailed to clients last week.

"There were substantial downward revisions to the back-data, and so the headline flatters the real story. So in the end, NOT the strong labour market release that could have put a June rate hike back ‘on the table’. And even with a really good payrolls figure for May, the June rate hike option now looks dead and buried," Hubard said after the release of the figures.

Unemployment fell to 5.4% after a reading of 5.5% in the month before (consensus: 5.4%).

However, average hourly earnings gained at a 0.1% month-on-month pace (consensus: 0.2%). Over the last twelve months this measure of wages increased at a 2.2% clip (consensus: 2.3%).

In greater detail, the goods producing industries generated 31,000 jobs while the services sector saw jobs growth of 182,000.

Within the former a loss of 15,000 posts in mining (as the shale oil sector shrank) was offset by 45,000 new jobs in construction, as that sector bounced from the weakness seen in March.

The number of workers unable to work due to bad weather was 101,000 in April versus the historical average of 75,000.

As of 13:39 the yield on the benchmark US Treasury note was lower by four basis points to 2.14%.