US NFP: Expect a positive employment report for January – Nomura

We have yet another preview of the much-awaited US labour market data, this time from the analysts at Nomura bank.

Key Quotes:

“We expect a positive employment report for January - job gains above the recent trend, steady increase in wages, and a tick-down in the unemployment rate. We forecast private payrolls in January to increase 200k and public payrolls to increase 5k for a total increase of 205k. We also forecast a 0.3% increase in average hourly earnings, consistent with the mild acceleration in the overall trend. We expect the unemployment rate to tick down to 4.6% from 4.7% as labor markets tighten just a touch further.”