Mar 06 2015

Rate Range Projection by Bank

Next week 119.00- 121.00

Next 3 months 112.00 - 127.00

U.S. employment likely rose strongly in February with the jobless rate slipping, signs that could encourage the Federal Reserve to consider hiking interest rates in June. In a survey of economists there has been 240,000 increase in nonfarm payrolls after a 257,000 gain in January. That would mark the 12th straight month of job increases above 200,000, the longest such run since 1994. Jacob Oubina, an economist at RBC Capital Markets in New York said "The jobs picture remains extraordinary healthy”. The Labor Department will release the jobs data at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, little more than a week before the U.S. central bank's March 17-18 policy meeting. The jobless rate was forecast to fall one-tenth of a percentage point to 5.6 percent, while average hourly earnings were seen rising 0.2 percent after jumping 0.5 percent in January.The anticipated pullback in earnings growth will probably not be an issue for the Fed given other signs that wage pressures are building, economists say. Fed officials are monitoring pay closely to help determine when enough pressure is building in the jobs market to merit higher borrowing costs to keep the economy from overheating.