Strong December Jobs Report Beats Expectations; Unemployment Steady at 3.7%
• U.S. added 216K jobs in Dec, beating 170K estimate and topping Nov's 173K (revised down from 199K)
• Unemployment rate steady at 3.7%, beating 3.8% estimate
• Average hourly earnings rose 0.4% in Dec, beating 0.3% estimate; 4.1% year-over-year (beating 3.9% estimate)
• Markets predicting high chance (65-80%) of significant Fed rate cuts in 2024, but jobs data not supporting case for cuts yet
• In response, stock futures turned slightly lower, 10-year Treasury yield rose 7 basis points, dollar index up 0.25%