WORKER WEAKNESS

November employment growth was a hearty 227,000, and there were upward revisions totaling 56,000 to September and October. The good November result confirms the weak October result was due to hurricanes and the Boeing strike. However, the unemployment rate rose slightly to 4.2% despite the labor force participation rate falling to 62.5% which shows the labor market continues to slowly weaken, making a 25bps mid-December Fed rate cut highly likely.