Amherst Pierpont economist Stephen....>

US DATA REACT: Amherst Pierpont economist Stephen Stanley said the US September

employment report "went to extremes at every turn," as the "hurricanes

undoubtedly affected the various metrics dramatically, but there is no way to

precisely quantify that, so we are left to speculate." The September payroll

figure "was quite soft" and "considerably weaker than anticipated, on top of a

few downward revision to the July/August tallies,"  he said. 

- He added that "average hourly earnings appear to have have jumped all at once.

After months and months of puzzlingly benign readings, the wage measure surged

by 0.5% in September, on top of upward revisions to both July and August.

Suddenly the year-over-year advance in wages went from a preliminary print in

August of 2.5% (along with a monthly 0.1% print) to a September figure of 2.95,

matching last December as a cycle high."