US: Nonfarm Payrolls increased by 145K in December vs. 164K expected

• Nonfarm Payrolls rose less than expected to weigh on USD.
• Annual wage inflation softened to 2.9% in December.

Nonfarm Payrolls in the US increased by 145,000 in December following November's reading of 256,000 (revised from 266,000), the data published by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics showed on Friday. This reading came in weaker than the market expectation of 164,000.

With the initial market reaction, the US Dollar Index erased its daily gains and was last flat on the day at 97.40.

Further details of the report showed that the Unemployment Rate stayed unchanged at 3.5% as expected and the Average Hourly Earnings fell to 2.9% on a yearly basis to miss analysts' estimate of 3.1%.