TD Securities strategists Oscar Munoz, Jan Groen and others said they expect nonfarm payrolls data released on Friday to show that the U.S. added a “whopping” 350,000 jobs in December versus the consensus estimate of 200,000. In a note on Thursday, they said they also see “revisions to the upside” in November’s payroll report. Strong labor-market data is feeding into worries that Federal Reserve officials will continue to hike interest rates to combat inflation. All three major U.S. stock indexes were lower in afternoon trading as investors digested recent hawkish Fed rhetoric and the U.S. labor market’s strength.
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