SHANGHAI, Jan 11 (Reuters) - The United States can still expect to see positive jobs growth in the first half of this year, a top U.S. Federal Reserve official said on Monday.
James Bullard, president of the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank, told reporters that the December jobs report would not change assessment of monetary policy.
"It was different from expectations but not far enough to really change assessments of policy," said Bullard, who votes on the U.S. central bank's policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) this year.
"I do think we'll see positive job growth in the first part of 2010," Bullard said, speaking on the sidelines of a financial conference in Shanghai.
U.S. employers unexpectedly cut 85,000 jobs in December, government data showed on Friday, cooling optimism on the labour market's recovery and keeping pressure on President Barack Obama. [ID:nN0747110] (Reporting by Jason Subler; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)