The Labor Department in the U.S. reported Dec. 2 that the unemployment rate last month dropped to 8.6 percent, 0.3 percentage point below the lowest forecast in a Bloomberg survey of 84 economists.
Other figures indicate little need for a third-round of large scale asset purchases at the Fed's meeting tomorrow in Washington, according to Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Pierpont Securities LLC in Stamford, Connecticut.
"A couple months ago I would have said yes," he said. "Now I'd probably lean toward saying no and the reason is just the improvement in the data."
In September, the Labor Department reported employment stagnated in the prior month, adding to concerns that the world's largest economy was teetering toward another recession. Revised figures indicate the pessimism about the labor market was misplaced. The agency's revisions show some 104,000 jobs were added in August.
Combined with updates to September and October, payrolls increased 231,000 more than initially reported in the three months after the Labor Department's revisions. The stronger jobs figures may help explain the improvement in holiday shopping.
Initial claims for jobless benefits in the week ended Dec. 3 fell to 381,000, the fewest since February, the Labor Department reported last week.
The Institute for Supply Management's factory index increased to 52.7 last month from 50.8 in October, the Tempe, Arizona-based group said Dec. 1. Readings above 50 indicate expansion, and economists surveyed by Bloomberg projected a gain to 51.8.
The Institute for Supply Management-Chicago Inc.'s business barometer increased in November to the highest reading since April as orders and production strengthened.
"What I hear as I talk to different retailers is, number one, that the retail season has come on through the holiday weekend somewhat better than they thought," said Kenneth Chenault, chief executive of American Express Co. at a Dec. 7 conference in New York sponsored by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. "A number of the online retailers that I've spoken to over the last week, and you've certainly seen the numbers, have been very encouraged by what they saw."