Payrolls and wages blow past expectations, flying in the face of Fed rate hikes

Nonfarm payrolls increased 263,000 for the month while the unemployment rate was 3.7%, the Labor Department reported Friday. Job growth was much better than expected in November despite the Federal Reserve's aggressive efforts to slow the labor market and tackle inflation. The rate increases have brought the Fed's benchmark overnight borrowing rate to a target range of 3.75%-4%. "The labor market is hot, hot, hot, heaping pressure on the Fed to continue raising policy rates." "The Fed is tightening monetary policy but somebody forgot to tell the labor market," said Fitch Ratings chief economist Brian Coulton.