Last week’s US labour market data for December was actually more constructive than the headline decline in payrolls implied. Despite the growing Covid pandemic and renewed restrictions in many areas pressuring the economy, payrolls fell by only 140,000 – which would be fairly typical fluctuation during more normal times. Job losses were concentrated in the leisure sector, in particular restaurants and hotels, as people cut back on going out and travel due to renewed Covid restrictions. Meanwhile, broad swathes of the economy continued adding jobs. Goods producing industries added 93,000 jobs, and the service sector (exc. leisure) gained 352,000.