U.S. labor improvement continues at moderate pace

The Federal Reserve's Labor Market Conditions Index (LMCI) increased for seven consecutive months in November with a moderate growth of 0.5 points. The LMCI index posted a solid growth in previous month as it increased by 1.5%. The solid growth rate is the result of improvement in payroll figure in October.  

"Continued employment growth and a declining unemployment rate should reduce what are already low levels of labor market slack, in turn encouraging a modest acceleration in wage growth. We expect the Fed's outlook to mirror this line of thinking as the FOMC moves towards lift-off at its meeting next week", says Barclays.