Investing.com - Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen this afternoon said the job market in the U.S. is now the "strongest" in nearly a decade during a speech in Baltimore, pushing down the price of the U.S. dollar against all major currencies except the Canadian dollar. But the killing of Russia's ambassador to Turkey jumbled the market for the rest of the day.
The greenback was down against the USD/JPY, at 0.64%, 117.22, and was down against the GBP/USD by 0.66% to 1.2404 and against the EUR/USD, by 0.24%, at 1.0422, on intraday trading.
But the dollar/euro pairing settled up, 0.2%, and closed the day at 1.0403. The dollar/yen pairing also was up a bit at the end of the day, 0.14%, closing at 11722.
The dollar/pound pairing stayed down for the day, settling 0.2% lower, at 1.2393.
The shooting of the ambassador, believed to be by a jihadi, jolted the markets with the spectre of international terrorism once again.
But the Fed remarks from earlier remained in the mix in the mind's of market makers.
Fed studies shows that those who enter the workforce during a strong economy are more likely to find a good job, stay employed, and earn a consistently higher salary, the Fed chairwoman said.
“After years of a slow economic recovery, you are entering the strongest job market in nearly a decade,” Yellen said in a brief commencement address that did not attempt to tackle policy questions facing the U.S. central bank.
Yellen said new graduates have now “done the one thing” that is most important to a successful working life: earning the degrees they are receiving.
“Economists are not certain about many things. But we are quite certain that a college degree are more likely to find a job, keep a job, have higher job satisfaction and earn a higher salary,” Yellen said.
College graduates’ annual earnings were, on average, 70% higher than those with only a high-school diploma.
This gap was only 20% in 1980.
Technology and globalization are two important factors driving the differentiation.
In her speech, Yellen said signs of a healthy job market "abound," including steady job creation, low layoff rate and more openings for new jobs.