U.S. Employment Gain to Brazil Contraction: Global Economy

Data this week will probably highlight a divergence in global growth. Employers in the U.S. hired more workers in November, and the government in the U.K. may raise its economic forecast for the first time in three years. Conversely, Brazil’s economy may have contracted in the third quarter for the first time in two years.

-- Employment rose by 183,000 workers last month after a 204,000 gain in October, putting the world’s largest economy on track to show the biggest payroll gain this year since 2005, according to the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg before a Dec. 6 report from the Labor Department. The jobless rate fell to 7.2 percent, matching a five-year low, from 7.3 percent, the survey also showed.