Interest rate cut bets rise as US job creation slows; FTSE 100 at record high – as it happened

A station in the Brooklyn borough of New York Photograph: Bebeto Matthews/AP

3.45pm BST

Closing post

Time to recap…

Hiring in the US slowed in April with the workforce adding another 175,000 jobs and wage growth slowing.

The news cheered investors hoping that a cooling labor market will prompt the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates – which have been driven to a 20-year high as the US fights stubbornly high inflation. All the major US markets rose in early trading.

Last month, the labor department reported the US added a revised 315,000 jobs in March, far higher than the 192,000 jobs economists had forecast. April’s figure was lower than forecast and the unemployment rate ticked up from 3.8% to 3.9% over the month but the figures underlined the continuing strength of the jobs market.

It was the 40th straight month of job gains in the US and the 27th consecutive month with the unemployment rate below 4% – the longest such streak since 1953.

But the slowdown in job creation is fuelling expectations that US interest rates could be cut sooner than expected, with a September cut looking more likely.

Here’s the full story:

With stock markets rallying across Europe and in the US, the UK’s FTSE 100 share index is on track for a new closing high tonight. With less than an hour’s trading to go, the Footsie is up 41 poinst at 8212, having surged over 8,200 points for the first time today.

Here’s the rest of today’s stories so far:

3.45pm BST

GOLDMAN SACHS STILL EXPECTS THE BANK OF ENGLAND TO START CUTTING INTEREST RATES FROM JUNE.

— FinancialJuice (@financialjuice) May 3, 2024