Stocks rally on even a suspicion that another round of quantitative easing might be on the way from the Fed
If bad economic and bond market news raises the odds that the Federal Reserve and other central banks will launch another round of monetary stimulus, then “bad” news is really “good” news, right? That’s the logic today when despite bad news on U.S. unemployment and Italian bond yields, global stock markets have moved back into rally mode.
Jobs numbers for March disappoint–I mean REALLY disappoint
Today’s jobs numbers–just 120,000 new jobs created in March–are a dose of cold reality thrown on any inclination that the U.S. stock market might have to look past disappointing first quarter earnings figures on the hope that U.S. economic growth for the rest of the year would be stronger than expected.
Initial claims for unemployment fall again and point to 200,000 new jobs in tomorrow numbers
Today’s 6,000 drop in initial claims for unemployment to 357,000 brought the initial claims number to the lowest level since April 2008.
Today’s revisions to initial claims for unemployment put improving trend in question
This morning’s stories on the initial claims for unemployment data released today say that claims declined to 359,000 for the week that ended on March 24 from 364,000 for the week that ended on March 17. But the initial claims level only showed a drop because the Department of Labor revised the numbers for the previous week upward. Without that revision, we’re looking at an increase in initial claims
Initial claims for unemployment drop again, consistent with another month of 200,000 new jobs in March
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Initial claims for unemployment fall again and suggest continued jobs growth of 200,000 a month or more
Initial claims fell from 365,000 for the week ended on March 3 to 351,000 for the week ended March 10. That was the lowest number for initial claims since March 2008. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had projected that initial claims would drop to 355,000.
U.S. jobs number for February surprises to the upside this morning
This morning the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the economy added 227,000 jobs in February and revised the January report to show 284,000 net jobs added that month from an earlier 243,000 estimate. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had expected a 206,000 increase in jobs in February.
Saturday Night Quarterback says, For the week ahead expect…
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Unchanged initial claims report this morning points to strong jobs report for February on March 9
In data released this morning the number of people filing initial claims for unemployment remained unchanged at 351,000 for the week ended February 18. Today’s numbers dropped the four-week moving average for initial claims by 7,000 to 359,000. That’s the lowest level for the four-week moving average since August 2008.
U.S. economy adds unexpectedly strong 243,000 jobs in January
Not just a good U.S. jobs number for January this morning but a surprisingly good jobs number. The U.S. economy added 243,000 jobs in January, up from a gain of 220,000 jobs in December. The private sector added 257,000 jobs in the month. Over the last three months the U.S. private sector has added 655,000 jobs.
The economy looked better in December but not better enough to make a strong argument for a continued improvement in 2012
It’s hard to find a really strong trend in today’s data on housing, durables, and jobs and I think that’s what worries the Federal Reserve. If the trend were stronger, economists could feel that 2012 was more likely to follow the lead of 2011. With these numbers, though, while the picture is positive, no one can be sure it won’t turn darker overnight.
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