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Soft landing in sight?
U.S. nonfarm payrolls rose by 199,000 in November, more than the Dow Jones estimate of 190,000 and October’s increase of 150,000. The unemployment rate dipped to 3.7% compared with economists’ expectations as well as October’s reading of 3.9%. Average hourly earnings increased by 0.4% for the month, better than estimates of 0.3% growth. Inflation expectations plunge Consumers think U.S. inflation will drop to 3.1% in a year, according to December’s University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey. That’s markedly lower than the 4.5% one-year inflation rate consumers expected in the November survey, and is ... (full story)