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U.S. job growth slows; markets bet on December rate hike

U.S. employment growth eased for the third straight month in September and the jobless rate rose, but the slowdown was not expected to prevent the Federal Reserve from raising interest rates later this year.

The Labor Department's report on Friday suggested the economy was on firm ground, but not growing so swiftly as to knock the U.S. central bank off its game plan of raising borrowing costs only gradually.

Nonfarm payrolls rose by 156,000 last month, down from a gain of 167,000 in August. The unemployment rate ticked up a tenth of a percentage point to 5.0 percent as more Americans rejoined the labor force.

Fed's Fischer says job gains solid, expects growth to pick up

Job gains in the United States remain solid and growth should pick up in the second half of the year, Fed Vice Chair Stanley Fischer said on Sunday in remarks that indicate the central bank remains on track for a December rate increase.

The United States is "close to full employment," Fischer said in remarks prepared for delivery to the Group of 30, a panel of current and former central bankers, regulators and academic economists, during the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.

Fed's Mester says U.S. economic data consistent with higher rates

Cleveland Federal Reserve President Loretta Mester said current U.S. economic data, including the September payrolls report released on Friday, were consistent with the U.S. central bank considering an increase in interest rates.

Fed's George says September U.S. jobs report was encouraging

Kansas City Federal Reserve President Esther George on Friday said U.S. job data from September was encouraging and that the economy was getting closer to full employment.

George, who has a vote on monetary policy this year and wanted a rate increase last month when the Fed left borrowing costs unchanged, was speaking on a panel hosted by the Institute of International Finance in Washington.

Kuroda says Bank of Japan easing alone can't achieve balanced growth

Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said it was hard to achieve balanced economic growth with monetary policy alone, adding that G20 nations shared the view fiscal and structural policies must also play a key role in boosting growth.

But he shrugged off the view that global policymakers were becoming increasingly concerned about the rising cost of prolonged ultra-loose monetary policies, signaling that central banks still had the ammunition left to stimulate the economy.

Oil prices fall over doubts that non-OPEC producers will cut output

Oil prices fell on Monday over doubts that an OPEC-led plan to cut output would rein in a global oversupply that has dogged markets for over two years.

Brent crude futures LCOc1 were trading at $51.46 per barrel at 0106 GMT, down 0.47 cents or 0.91 percent, from their last settlement.

Reference: Reuters