Economic wrap: US non-farm payrolls disappointed, Fed speak hawkish - Westpac

Analysts at Westpac offered an economic wrap.

Key Quotes:

"US non-farm payrolls rose 148k in Dec (vs 190k expected). The unemployment rate remained at 4.1%, while average hourly earnings rose 0.3% (as expected) although Nov was revised down from 0.2% to 0.1%. Natural disasters have affected jobs data since August, with California fires in December providing a lingering headwind. However, post-disaster rebuilding is lifting the goods market, and this strength should eventually spread to the service sector.

FOMC non-voter Harker said two hikes in 2018 is appropriate but is watching for risks inflation remains low. Mester said inflation should rise to over 2% during the next two years, given the strong labour market (she thought the Dec data was strong) and economic expansion."