Tomorrow brings the first jobs report of the new year, and based on recent statements from Fed policymakers, the central bank’s new year’s resolution was to redouble its focus on defeating inflation regardless of the costs. Thankfully, some of the early data suggests that the US consumer remained healthy as of December, and that optimism is keeping expectations for the labor market elevated as well. As the graphic below shows, traders and economists are expecting to learn that the US economy created 200K net new jobs in December, and that the average hourly earnings for workers rose by 0.4% m/m, a development that ... (full story)