Marketbites: Surprising Job Growth Released
MARKET PERFORMANCE:
Portfolio Manager Commentary:
Markets fell Friday after jobs data was released that showed big surprises in job gains. This means Powell may have to keep rising rates for longer. More on that below. In other news, the Nasdaq just wrapped up its fifth straight week of gains, rising 3.3% over the last five days. Earnings reports were the story of the week, with results landing from many of the world’s most valuable tech companies. But the numbers, for the most part, weren’t good.
Apple missed estimates for the first time since 2016, Facebook parent Meta recorded a third straight quarter of declining revenue, Google’s core advertising business shrank and Amazon closed out its weakest year for growth in its 25-year history as a public company.
Chart of the Day:
U.S. hiring accelerated sharply to 517,000 jobs in January and the unemployment fell to 3.4%, the lowest rate in more than 53 years, the Labor Department said Friday. Payrolls grew in a broad range of sectors, including leisure and hospitality, professional and business services, and healthcare. The data is surprising considering the mass layoffs from various industries recently. “Today’s jobs report is almost too good to be true,” wrote Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter. “Like $20 bills on the sidewalk and free lunches, falling inflation paired with falling unemployment is the stuff of economics fiction.”
Source: WSJ
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