US unemployment likely narrowed in start of 2016

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) will be releasing its report today on the employment situation in January. The hiring in the country is likely to have remained strong, while the underutilization of labor resources is expected to have declined. Also, wage growth is likely to have accelerated in the reference period. The upcoming BLS report is expected to support the case of further tightening of the policy in 2016.

The January nonfarm payrolls is likely to have grown by 245,000, slightly lower than Q4's 284,000-job pace. Unemployment is expected to have narrowed at the start of 2016, leaving the civilian jobless rate at 4.9% level. The average hourly earnings likely rose by 0.4% in January, the largest rise since August.