US employment report today

The dollar is holding onto its latest gains against the euro, still trading at around $1.11 this morning, and continues to hover just below the $1.31 level against sterling, all of which leaves the pound trading at around 85p against the single currency, not much changed from where it closed out 2019 but slightly weaker than last year’s high of 83p posted immediately following December’s decisive general election outcome in the UK

The House of Commons has passed the Withdrawal Agreement Bill – who might have thought such was likely a few months ago – and it now goes for passage through the House of Lords, paving the way for the UK to formally leave the European Union at the end of this month

Bank of England Governor, Mark Carney, says “early indicators, from financial market prices and the limited number of business surveys since the election, suggest that there has been some reduction in Brexit-related and domestic policy uncertainties”, adding that, “in the coming weeks, the MPC will watch closely surveys of business and consumer confidence as well as global developments” as it make its decisions on interest rate policy

The Vice-Chair of the Fed, Richard Clarida, reiterates that the “current stance of monetary policy likely will remain appropriate…to support sustained (economic) growth, a strong labor market, and inflation running close” to its 2% target

The main economic release today is the December employment report in the US, with the consensus expecting employment to have increased by about 16ok last month and unemployment rate to have held steady at a fifty-year low of 3.8%