Macro
Last month, payrolls increased by 311,000, surpassing the expectations from the analysts. This extended the longest streak in data, as the job growth exceeded the expectations for the eleventh consecutive month. The labor-force participation rate, which indicates the proportion of the population working or seeking employment, also increased to 62.5%, the highest since March 2020 and surprisingly, the unemployment rate increased from 3.4%, the lowest in five decades in January, to 3.6%.
GDP growth rate and the numbers on employment change released in the Eurozone have confirmed that the economy is weakening due to the effects of higher interest rates and the ongoing impacts of the war on Ukraine.
Despite the sharp increase in interest rates and a collapse in consumer confidence towards the end of 2022, preliminary estimates reveal that the U.K. economy defied gravity and increased by 0.3% in January, resulting in the rolling quarterly growth rate avoiding negative territory once again.
On Friday, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) chose to maintain its ultra-low interest rates and refrained from altering its contentious bond yield control policy, keeping its possibilities open before a leadership transition scheduled for April.