November Jobs Report Sees Payrolls Rise by 227,000

Following a weaker-than-expected October jobs report that revealed a now-revised 36,000 jobs added for the month, November nonfarm payrolls more than exceeded analyst expectations and rose by 227,000. 

While October labor was marred by devastating hurricanes in the Southeast and a Boeing strike, those events actually wound up creating jobs in their wake in November in fields such as repair/renovation and manufacturing.

According to Bureau of Labor Statistics' November report released this morning, notable November job gains were also found in the sectors of health care (54,000), leisure and hospitality (53,000), and government (33,000) while retail trade slid by 28,000 for the month. The unemployment rate, meanwhile, edged up slightly from 4.1% to 4.2% in November, aligning with analyst forecasts. 

While the BLS' November findings usher in a sense of economic optimism, could the significant jobs gains also curtail plans for a potential Fed rate cut of 25 basis points? Speaking at The New York Times DealBook conference on Wednesday, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell commented that a lowered risk to the labor force might not compel the central bank to rush rate cuts again, saying, "We can afford to be a little more cautious as we try to find neutral."

Jobs Report Follows Post-Election Bullishness

While we await the Fed’s ensuing move following the jobs report, the market sentiment has remained ever-so bullish since Donald Trump’s election win and pro-crypto stance. Wall Street, in fact, reached new record levels in November, with the S&P 500, the Dow Jones, and the Nasdaq recording 5%, 6% and 7.5% gains, respectively, last month. The success has also been reflected in the ETF space as funds like the Tesla-heavy Direxion Daily TSLA Bull 2X Shares (TSLL) rallied in November, while iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) and VanEck Bitcoin ETF (HODL) each gained more than 38% last month, with bitcoin itself now soaring past $100K for the first time.

Now that the November jobs report is out, how will the rise in payrolls affect the Fed's decision-making process on Dec. 18? Time will tell, but it appears traders are already betting big on a rate cut.