The US unemployment rate ticked higher last month after businesses cut jobs for the second month in a row. The jobless rate rose to 5.7pc in October from 5.6pc in September after non-farm payrolls fell by 5,000. Payrolls fell by a revised 13,000 in the previous month. Although the payrolls figure was not as bad as some forecasts, which warned of a drop of as much as 20,000, analysts said it "could have been better". The dollar extended its declines following the report, pushing the euro up to 99.77c from 99.60c before the figures were published and 99.30c this morning. Economists pointed out that this is the second month in a row in which employers laid off more workers than they hired, which indicates that the economic recovery has stalled. It is the first back-to-back decline in payrolls in six months.
There were job gains in the service sectors in October, according to the Labour Department report, but manufacturing jobs fell 49,000 after falling a revised 39,000 in September. Manufacturing employment has declined every month since July 2000. The average number of hours worked also fell in October, dropping by six minutes to 34.1 hours. //www.fxcentre.com //