We were supposed to add 180k jobs in February, but only managed 20k.
Wage growth, however, was strong — bullish for inflation and gold.
Dean Baker weighs in.
#jobsreport modest acceleration in wage growth to 3.4 percent over last year, 3.3 percent taking average of last 3 months with prior 3 months
— Dean Baker (@DeanBaker13) March 8, 2019
#JobsReport drop in involuntary part-time lowered U-6 unemployment to 7.3 percent, new low for recovery
— Dean Baker (@DeanBaker13) March 8, 2019
#JobsReport big fall in aggregate hours, we're below December level — more cause for concern than February jobs numbers, but bad weather could have been a factor
— Dean Baker (@DeanBaker13) March 8, 2019
#JobsReport Involuntary part-time employment plunges more than reversing January rise. Now below pre-recession lows as share of employment
— Dean Baker (@DeanBaker13) March 8, 2019
What does this mean?
It means the slowdown heading into 2019, with an absolute plunge in semiconductor orders, as evidenced by the recent beige book report, affected employment in February. SHOCKER.
Recession? Hard to tell. The Atlanta Fed is estimating just 0.3% GDP growth for Q1. Is this being priced into stocks?
It all depends on how the second half of 2019 will look. If things look to be getting better, the market will reflect that optimism and ignore the present weakness. But if we get some negative news, namely from Apple, then markets need to correct.
For now, trade the tape, not the news.
If you enjoy the content at iBankCoin, please follow us on Twitter
Hard to see a silver lining in that cloud. Unless you’re very short.
I had a new personal record for amount of puts yesterday, sweated it out. Looking for more now. YOLO time.
Idiot Larry Kudlow sez that jobs report don’t mean nothin’. Keep pushin’ that market Larry. I need an entry point, puts are the new AMZN.