US unemployment rate rises again
The US jobs market took a surprise stumble last month, fuelling jitters over the health of the world's largest economy.
American employers took on just 39,000 staff in November — a fraction of the 140,000 expected — while the jobless rate hit a seven-month high of 9.8%.
Traders took the figures as a cue to dump stocks, sending shares down sharply in London before pulling back some ground. The non-farms shocked markets after a recent run of more upbeat data on retail sales, consumer confidence and falling initial jobless claims.
The Federal Reserve launched a second $600 billion (£382 billion) round of money printing last month in a bid to shore up the recovery and stave off a slide into deflation.
The US economy grew at an annual rate of 2.5% between July and September but experts warned of a slowdown in the final quarter. "I think a number around 2% is right," Cary Leahey of Decision Economics said.
Despite the worries across the Atlantic, weaker European nations gained some breathing space today as the European Central Bank intervened in bond markets for the second day, buying Portuguese and Irish debt to ease the crisis.
Portugal's 10-year borrowing costs fell to 5.62% from a peak of over 7% at the start of the week while Irish yields are down from 9.35% to 8%.
