FTSE 100 Live 5 April: Shares plunge, US jobs beat forecasts yet again

Lindsay James, investment strategist at Quilter Investors, says: “US non-farm payrolls increased by 303,000 jobs in March, well ahead of expectations and above February’s marginally revised result of 270,000. Meanwhile, hourly earnings are projected to have risen by 4.1% compared to the same period last year. Earlier signs of a softening labour market, marked by a modest rise in unemployment and subdued wage growth, have been contradicted by recent data. This suggests that job creation and wage increases are maintaining their momentum and confounding expectations of an economic slowdown.