No Excess in Labor Market

While reasons for more interest rate hikes are mounting in the eyes of some central bank officials, they certainly aren't evident in the labor market.

Although job growth is expected to have picked up in December from a sluggish pace in the prior month, the upcoming employment report is likely to be mediocre at best.

On average, economists are predicting that 175,000 new jobs were created last month, after 112,000 were added in November. About 150,000 jobs are needed each month just to keep up with the growth in the labor force. ...