As usual, the American employment statistics were high on the agenda in financial circles. How fast is the American economy slowing down?
A mixed bag, says Elisabet Kopelman, USA analyst at SEB in an initial comment.
Fewer than expected
The number of new jobs in the USA outside the agricultural sector amounted to 142,000 in August, which was fewer than expected. According to the news agency Bloomberg, expectations were for 165,000 new jobs.
In July, employment increased by 89,000 jobs according to revised figures.
This shows that employment is continuing to slow down, seen over the past three months, says Elisabet Kopelman.
But there was still a sigh of relief. Unemployment did not increase, on the contrary, it decreased slightly, from 4.3 to 4.2 percent.
There was a fear of a really bad report, says Kopelman.
"More concerned"
On the financial markets, the Stockholm Stock Exchange rose slightly, while the dollar lost value against the krona by about five öre to 10.18.
One is now more concerned about the economy than hopeful for interest rate cuts, says Kopelman.
Half a year ago, it was the opposite. Then, poor job figures were positive for the stock market climate because the fear was high for overheating with continued high inflation and interest rates. It has thus changed. Now the financial market is more worried that the economy will slow down too quickly.
Today's statistics harvest was a bit mixed, notes Kopelman.
For the American central bank Federal Reserve, the path to multiple interest rate cuts is becoming increasingly clear. And that is good news for those who want to see lower interest rates in Sweden as well.
This supports the Swedish Central Bank to continue cutting, says Kopelman.
