Market Close: Markets muted after ‘ridiculous’ employment data

Market Close: Markets muted after ‘ridiculous’ employment data
Dan Brunskill
Financial market participants were taken by surprise today as labour data for the September quarter showed the strongest employment statistics since the global financial crisis.BNZ head of research Stephen Toplis said the employment rate was verging “on the ridiculous” and may not be sustainable.The headline unemployment rate, at 3.6%, is well below the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s (RBNZ) estimated threshold of where the hot labour market starts to cause inflation.Toplis said the central bank hiking the cash rate by 50 b...