US creates more jobs than expected in June

US job figures have surprised to the upside today, with 213,00 new jobs being created in June over the consensus forecast of 195,000. Whist job numbers were strong, unemployment crept up 0.2 per cent and wage growth remained largely unchanged. On average, the US has now been adding 195,000 new jobs a month over the last twelve months, helping on the one hand to strengthen the case for the current interest rate hike trajectory employed by the Federal Reserve (Fed). Despite the number of new jobs, wage growth and unemployment are still lagging the Fed's 2018 forecasts and are tempering expectations of the Fed hiking rates again this year on the other hand. After today's release, the US dollar fell around 0.5 per cent against a basket of currency peers, while US government debt was being bought, both of which reflect lessened rate hike expectations. US equity markets have also rallied around 1 per cent in response as lower rates tend to be favourable for equities.