US unemployment eases to 7.7% US payrolls rose by 146,000 in November, well ahead of analyst forecasts, as disruption from Hurricane Sandy did not show up in the figures. The unemployment rate fell from 7.9 to 7.7 per cent, widening a gap between sluggish economic growth and rapid falls in joblessness that has puzzled the US Federal Reserve. Overall, the figures suggest that the US economy has a little more momentum than previously thought, despite a slowdown in exports and worries about the fiscal cliff of tax rises and spending cuts. But the report was less encouraging than the headline numbers suggest. There were big downward revisions to figures for September and October that reduced payrolls by 49,000 and much of the higher-than-expected number reflected that lack of impact from Sandy. "Our analysis suggests that Hurricane Sandy did not substantively impact the national employment and unemployment estimates for November," said the Bureau of Labour Statistics. In US Treasuries, the yield on the 10-year note rose immediately afterwards in response to the news, lifting to 1.64 per cent, up from 1.58 per cent before the data.