Welcome to Seeking Alpha's Wall Street Lunch, our afternoon update on today's market action news and analysis.

Good afternoon. Today is Friday, this summer 8 and I'm your host Kim Khan. Our top story so far.

The recent trend of weak economic numbers ended this morning with an impressive November jobs report.

The latest figures showed some renewed labor market strength

that keeps a soft landing in play while giving the Fed a little more

optionality than what the markets were pricing in since the CPI. November payrolls

rose by 199,000 last month, up from 150,000, and topping expectations

for a rise of 180,000.

And the unemployment rate fell unexpectedly to 3.7% from 3.9%.

University of Michigan economist Justin Wolfers

notes that the household survey shows that employment grew by a blockbuster 747,000. That's why the unemployment rate fell so

sharply, but adds this is a noisier survey so less well suited for measuring

month-to-month changes. Adding to the dumbish tone, wages came in a little hot with average hourly earnings of 0.4%

a tad higher than estimates.

Seeking off analyst David Alton Clark says these numbers appear to reinforce a soft landing narrative,

but regardless, the bottom line is that the market has already decided the Fed rate hike cycle is over.

At this point, it's not a question of if but when the Fed will begin cutting rates in 2024.

After some immediate volatility following the release, Fed Funds futures are now back to a coin toss on whether the Fed cuts as soon as March.

The Gila Ba, fixed income strategist at Investment Bank Janie, says the numbers provide another

excuse for the Fed to push back on cuts.

In the stock market, more benign inflation data wiped out the initial

losses prompted by the jobs report. The S&P, Nasdek and Dow, are little changed in very choppy action.

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