Analysis: Non-farm payroll data confirms the Federal Reserve's statement that "the labor market is not the root cause of inflation."

Data released Tuesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that nonfarm payrolls rose slightly more than expected in November. The data release was delayed due to the government shutdown. 64,000 jobs were added that month, better than the Dow Jones Industrial Average's forecast of 45,000. The unemployment rate rose to 4.6%, higher than expected. The Bureau also released a simplified October figure, showing a decrease of 105,000 nonfarm jobs. While there was no official forecast, Wall Street economists generally expected a decline in October's employment figures, following a surprise increase of 108,000 jobs in September. Despite these complexities, the report paints a similar picture of the labor market as in the past. The employment situation remains characterized by low hiring and layoffs. From a policy perspective, the Federal Reserve faces a difficult choice: trying to prevent further weakness in the labor market while also preventing persistently high inflation from worsening. Fed officials have consistently maintained that the labor market is not the root cause of inflation, and today's jobs report confirms this. (Jinshi)