The U.S. economy added a less-than-expected 161,000 jobs in October and the unemployment rate stood at 4.9 percent as investors got to digest the final payrolls report before Tuesday's presidential election.
But the bigger number in the report could be wages, with average hourly earnings climbing 10 cents and reflecting a 2.8 percent annualized increase, according to the report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The number would seem to solidify a Fed rate increase in December, as the market has been expecting, though average weekly hours were flat at 34.4.
"The wage growth is something they've been looking forward to for a long time," said Dan North, chief economist at Euler Hermes North America, a trade credit insurance firm. The move from a 2.6 percent growth rate in September is "progress. That doesn't scream inflationary pressure, but it's going the right way."
Economists surveyed by Reuters had expected nonfarm payrolls to grow by 175,000 and the jobless rate to tick down to 4.9 percent. A broader measure of unemployment that includes those who have stopped looking for jobs and those working part-time for economic reasons fell to 9.5 percent, the lowest level since April 2008.
FBI Director James Comey told lawmakers Sunday the agency hasn't changed its opinion that Hillary Clinton should not face criminal charges after a review of new emails.
"Based on our review, we have not changed our conclusions that we expressed in July," Comey wrote in the new letter to congressional committee chairmen.
Comey dropped a bombshell on the presidential race last month when he sent a letter to Congress saying the FBI had discovered emails in a separate investigation that could be connected to the now-closed probe of whether Clinton mishandled classified information. The move infuriated Democrats and emboldened Republican nominee Donald Trump.
The dollar jumped early on Monday after the FBI said a review of newly discovered emails did not change the agency's conclusion that no charges were warranted in the case of Democrat Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server.
Markets have tended to see U.S. presidential contender Clinton as the status quo candidate, and news favouring her bid often boosts risk appetite.
The dollar was up 1.1 percent at 104.275 yen after surging to 104.530 in early trade. It had declined to 102.550 last week as polls showed a tightening U.S. presidential race.
The euro was down 0.5 percent to $1.1089, knocked off a four-week peak of $1.1143 reached on Friday.
The U.S. labor market is close to full strength and the economy could at some point overshoot the Federal Reserve's goals for employment and inflation, Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer said on Friday.
Fischer did not say whether the Fed was likely to raise interest rates in December but he noted that investors in financial markets were betting on a hike that month.
Dallas Fed's President Robert Kaplan was on the wires last hour, via Reuters, stating that two rate hikes next year is "consistent" with his view of appropriate policy and highlighted that he doesn't see any hint of political influences on Fed decisions.
Federal Reserve rate increases over the next two years will be "very" gradual amid expected steady growth and stable job gains, Atlanta Federal Reserve President Dennis Lockhart said on Friday. Lockhart said he felt the economy remained on track for moderate growth of around two percent, allowing the Fed to move rates higher — a bit at a time.
Oil prices rose in early trading on Monday, with traders citing opportunistic buying following sharp declines in the previous week on the back of ongoing weak fundamentals. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were down 0.40 cents, or 0.91 percent, at $44.47 a barrel.
Traders said that the main price driver had been opportunistic buying following last week's price falls, which were the steepest since January and their lowest level since August. Overall market fundamentals remain weak.
Analysts said that a planned output cut to be decided during a meeting on November 30 by countries from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC producers like Russia was encountering hurdles.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC, CNN, FXStreet
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