US unemployment rate at 53-year low; pressure on Federal Reserve

The Fed earlier this week increased the rate by a quarter-of-a-percentage-point to 4.5 -4.75 per cent

The Federal Reserve is likely to deliver at least two more interest-rate hikes, taking the benchmark rate to above 5 per cent, before monetary policy will be sufficiently restrictive to bridle an unexpectedly strong labour market that is contributing to high inflation.

That was the read from traders of interest-rate futures on Friday after the US Labor Department reported employers added more than half a million jobs last month, far more than expected. Prices in those contracts fell sharply, and now reflect a better than even chance that the Fed will keep raising interest rates to the 5-5.25 per cent range