Today’s September non-farm payroll release showed that 130,000 jobs were added, which was below expectations of 160,000 jobs created, with the prior month’s reading revised down by 5,000 jobs to 159,000. The unemployment rate was at 3.7%, the same as last month (near a 50 year low). The participation rate edged higher to 63.2% from 63% previously. One highlight was average hourly earnings which came in at 3.2% from a year earlier and up 0.4% from last month. Data from the Bureau of Labour Statistics did highlight that some 23,000 people that were employed in non-agricultural jobs had trouble finding work due to the inclement weather.
Overnight, also saw that Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway raised JPY430bn (approximately USD4bn) in a six-tranche bond offering that is not only a first for the company but also the biggest yen bond offering by a non-Japanese borrower. The tranches span from 5 to 30 years with the biggest being the 10-year note. Moody's has assigned Aa2 rating to the debt. The Hathaway offering comes after Japanese corporations issued more than JPY1.2tn (just over USD11bn) in new debt earlier today. The JPY1.2tn of issuance is a record, beating the previous record of just over JPY1bn in the middle of July, as companies rush to take advantage of the country's ultralow interest rates. That figure did not include Hathaway’s offering.