Futures traders decreased the amount of easing they expect from the Federal Reserve after the U.S. jobs report showed hiring was unexpectedly resilient in October.
January fed funds futures imply a rate of 1.525% at the end of 2019, having indicated around 1.50% just before the release of the data.
Assuming an effective fed funds rate of around 1.57% in the wake of Wednesday’s Fed decision, the market is pricing in around 4.5 basis points of further easing for this year. A full quarter-point cut is priced in for some time in the second half of 2020.
Payrolls rose 128,000 after an upwardly revised 180,000 advance the prior month, according to a Labor Department report Friday that exceeded the median 85,000 estimate in Bloomberg’s survey.
Earlier this week the central bank reduced interest rates by a quarter-percentage point for the third time this year. The Federal Open Market Committee altered language in its statement following the two-day meeting, dropping its pledge to “act as appropriate to sustain the expansion,” while adding a promise to monitor data as it “assesses the appropriate path of the target range for the federal funds rate.”
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