The chances of the Federal Reserve slowing its asset purchases from $85bn a month by September were raised yesterday after the US reported stronger-than-expected jobs growth of 175,000 in May.
Following a flow of poor data during the week, the jobs figures are a reassuring sign that the US recovery is on course, despite tax rises and across-the-board cuts to public spending.
It marks another step in the improvement of the jobs market that Fed chairman Ben Bernanke said could lead to a slowing of its third round of quantitative easing, or QE3, at one of the central bank’s next meetings. It has meetings scheduled in June, July and September.