Stocks rally on huge job gains; acceleration in wage growth puts Fed betwixt and between
The U.S. economy added 312,000 jobs in December, the Labor Department reported this morning. The government statisticians also revised November’s report to show the addition of 176,000 jobs instead of the prior report of 155,000. Economists surveyed by...
For the Fed, one and done–for a while?
This morning the November jobs report came in softer than expected–and that pretty much removed the last factor pushing the Federal Reserve toward aggressively raising interest rates in 2019. For November the economy added 155,000 jobs. That is still a strong...
“Odd” job numbers this morning for September but job market still strong
The economy added only 134,000 new jobs in September–probably a result of Hurricane Florence. But a huge revision to August and July job gains more than offset the weak current month. Economists surveyed surveyed by Briefing.com had projected the economy would...
Good August jobs number cements Federal Reserve interest rate increase in September (and probably December)
The U.S. economy added a net 201,000 jobs in August. That was above the projection of 187,000 from economists surveyed by Briefing.com. Government statisticians revised the July job gains to 170,000 from 153,000. The official unemployment rate remained at 3.9%. So why...
Don’t make too much of the headline miss on jobs–U.S. economy adds average of 224,000 jobs in past three months
This morning the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the U.S. economy added 157,000 jobs in July. That was significantly below the 190,000 economists surveyed by Briefing.com had predicted. But before you panic, please note that the government’s...
The good news in the bad news of today’s jobs numbers
You ‘ve got to remember that at this point in the Federal Reserve cycle good is bad and bad is good. So, by itself the good news in the June jobs report this morning would be counted as bad news. The economy added 213,000 jobs in June, well above the 195,000...
U.S. economy adds 223,000 jobs in May; odds of June interest rate increase bounce back
The U.S. economy added 223,000 jobs in May, well ahead of the 190,000 gain expected by economists surveyed by Briefing.com Revised figures for April showed the economy adding slightly fewer jobs, a revised 159,000 new jobs versus an initial 164,000. The official...
Economy adds a middling 164,000 jobs in April
It all depends on your benchmark. There was good news in today’s jobs report for April since the economy added 164,000 jobs, up from a revised 135,000 jobs in March. So yay! The jobs market rebounded from March weakness. And there was bad news in the report...
So how is the economy (remember the economy?) anyway?
Let’s take a look at the economy before this week gets sucked into the black hole of tariffs and trade wars. As you’ll remember when last we left the U.S. economy–on Friday morning–it had just reported a disappointing addition to 103,000 net...
Initial claims support belief in strong March job growth report
Initial claims for unemployment for the week ended March 10 fell by by 4,000 to 226,000. That was in-line with projections from economists surveyed by Briefing.com. This is the 158th consecutive week that new claims for unemployment have been below 300,000. The less...
December jobs report delivers mild disappointment
The U.S. economy added 148,000 net new jobs in December. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected growth of 190,000 jobs. The Bureau of Labor Statistics also revised the November job growth to 252,000 from an initial 228,000. The official unemployment rate...
Jobs number strong but income growth disappoints
The U.S. economy added a net 228,000 jobs in November, the Labor Department reported this morning. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg were looking for a gain of 195,000. That kept the unemployment rate at 4.1%, the lowest since 2000. Disappointingly, however, average...
Jobs numbers drop for September after hurricanes
It took three hurricanes to stall the momentum in the jobs market, but in the aftermath of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, in September the U.S. economy saw its first drop in the number of jobs since September 2010. This breaks the historic 83-month run of monthly...
Initial claims fall setting up positive surprise in September jobs report tomorrow?
Initial claims for unemployment fell by 12,000 to 260,000 for the week ended September 30. Economists survyed by Briefing.com had projected initial claims of 265,000 for the week. The initial claims total remained below the 300,000 level that economists use as a...
Market sinks; volatility climbs on strong economic news, D.C. chaos
The Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index closed down 1.54% today and the NASDAQ Composite fell 1.94%. Gold picked up 0.87%. The CBOE S&P 500 Volatility Index (VIX) broke above 15 again, soaring 31.94% on the day. There was just too much for the markets to...
Stronger than expected July jobs report doesn’t change market thinking on interest rates
The U.S. economy added 209,000 jobs in July. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com were looking for 181,000 net new jobs in the month. Government statisticians revised the June jobs report up to 231.000 new jobs from 222,000. The official unemployment rate fell to 4.3%...
Jobs report not too hot, not too cold
So how many lives does this Goldilocks market have, anyway? This morning the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the U.S. economy added just 98,000 jobs in March. That was the weakest gain since May 2015 and way under the 180,000 jobs expected by economists...
Will tomorrow’s jobs number be too strong for the markets?
Should be an interesting morning tomorrow. The U.S. government is set to release the jobs report for March at 8:30 a.m. New York time. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com are looking for the economy to add a net 180,000 jobs. That projection could be low, however,...
Strong February jobs report removes last doubt on Fed interest rate increase next week
The U.S. economy added 235,000 jobs in February, the Labor Department reported today. The department’s statisticians also revised January’s job gains upwards to 238,000. Wages grew by a year over year 2.8% The unemployment rate fell to 4.7%. (The U-6, or...Goldilocks returns with January jobs report
The January jobs report showing a net gain of 227,000 jobs (versus the consensus of 170,000 among economists surveyed by Briefing.com) would have been enough to send stock and Treasury bond prices down and the dollar up because the very strong job creation in January...
What’s the “quid” for Softbank’s “quo”?
Update December 30,2016. Softbank (SFTBY) has been in the headlines a lot recently–usually after an announcement by President-elect Donald Trump. There was Softbank CEO and chairman Masayoshi Son emerging after a meeting with Trump at Trump Tower to announce...
Last obstacle falls to Fed interest rate increase on December 14–November jobs number almost meets expectations
Good enough for government work. The U.S. economy added 178,000 jobs in November, the Labor Department announced today. That was up from a revised net add of 142,000 jobs in October but below the 180,000 expected by economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Official...
Economy adds 161,000 jobs in October; September revised up to 191,000; Fed on track to December rate increase
The U.S. economy added 161,000 jobs in October and the Bureau of Labor Statistics revised the September job total upwards to 191,000. The original September report put the month’s job gains at 156,000. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg were expecting the economy...
Fed holds rates steady but says case for December move stronger
Odds for a December interest rate increase by the Federal Reserve climbed to 78% today after the U.S. central bank held short-term rates steady at 0.25%-0.50% at its Wednesday meeting, but said that “the case for an increase in the federal funds rate has continued to...
Jobs number comes in light but in an OK kind of way
The U.S. economy added 156,000 jobs in September after an upwardly revised August report of 167,000 net new jobs. The September number was less than the 172,000 jobs forecast by economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The official unemployment rate ticked up to 5% in the...
Weaker than expected August jobs number lowers odds of September rate increase from Fed
Take a Federal Reserve interest rate increase at the central bank’s September 21 meeting off the books. Today, the Labor Department reported that the U.S. economy added only 151,000 net new jobs in August. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had forecast the...
Ignore the volatility in monthly jobs numbers–this economy is about where it should be for this point in the cycle
Here’s the smartest thing I’ve read about today’s news that the economy added 287,000 jobs in June, way more than the 180,000 consensus among economists surveyed by Bloomberg: “The bottom line is that seeing through the month-to-month...May jobs number is so bad it revives fears that the U.S. economic recovery will stall
The headline jobs number was a big disappointment. This morning, June 4, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the U.S. economy added 431,000 jobs in May. The consensus among economists called for 500,000 jobs. And the disappointment only increased when Wall...Household wealth rises and foreclosure rate hits a record–what kind of recovery is this?
Put these two headlines together from Bloomberg today and you’ve got a good snapshot of the U.S. economic “recovery” to date. “U.S. Foreclosures to Reach 3.9 Million in Second Record Year.” “Household Net Worth in U.S. Increases by $2.67 Trillion.” Let’s look at the...Jim’s Daily Email Alerts:
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