Weak U.S. jobs figures shored up stock markets Tuesday but weighed on the dollar, which fell to its lowest level against the euro in nearly two years, as investors concluded that the Federal Reserve may hold off reducing its monetary stimulus until 2014.
The Labor Department reported that 148,000 jobs were created in September, below the consensus in the markets for around 180,000. Following revisions to back data, it means that the U.S. economy added an average of 143,000 jobs a month from July through September, down from 182,000 from April through June.
Though the unemployment rate, which is based on a separate survey, fell 0.1 percentage points to 7.2 percent, its lowest level since 2008, the labor market report suggests the U.S. economy was slowing even before the U.S. government was partially shut down. The September figures were delayed from their traditional release time of the first Friday of the month because of the shutdown.
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