Unemployment rate dips to 5.6%; 112,000 non-farm payroll jobs added in January

CNBC | Friday, February 6, 2004

[Grampa Dave]

Phil, the rats and their buddies the gloomers and doomers don't want to hear that data.

[MeekOneGOP]

Yep ! Obviously the market just hated the jobs news ... < /sarcasm >

(on BIG volume, too, it appears) ...

http://finance.yahoo.com/mt?u

Market Summary

Dow	10,593.03	+97.48	(+0.93%)
Nasdaq	2,064.01	+44.45	(+2.20%)
S&P 500	1,142.76	+14.17	(+1.26%)
10-Yr Bond	4.089%	-0.085
NYSE Volume		1,450,959,000
Nasdaq Volume		1,859,273,000
Quote data provided by Reuters

Close: A January employment report that actually fell short of the market's expectations turned out to be the right combination for a buying drive on Wall Street... Stocks opened on a positive note, and gained steam throughout the day for a close at their session highs... The magnitude of today's gains, in fact, was the largest since last November, and erased all of the week's losses on the Dow and S&P 500 (the Nasdaq came within 2 points of a flat finish)... The jobs report gave equities several reasons to rally with its positive implications for the labor market and investor psychology...

The unemployment rate fell to 5.6%, the average workweek rose to 33.7 hours, and nonfarm payrolls increased by 112K... While all of these statistics were indicative of a strengthening employment picture, the latter metric actually missed the consensus estimate of 165K and generated some negative headline buzz... Briefing.com ventured in yesterday's Looking Ahead column that such a figure - signaling job growth, but not phenomenal job growth - would be a "best case scenario" for the bulls as it suggests that the Fed is not going to tighten interest rates anytime soon...

Investors interpreted the figure as such as most sectors zoomed higher today, with financial, homebuilding, apparel, and technology in the front... The latter was especially strong thanks to the semiconductor group's move above its 50-day simple moving average...

[onyx]

WOW, Meek, thank you for the enlightening post. Those darn facts somehow always elude democrats. Damn them.

[varon]

``Less December hiring by retailers and restaurants should translate into less January firing by these establishments, a positive swing factor,'' Soss said in a research report to clients.

Unf*****g believable...........

[MeekOneGOP]

Yep ! You bet. The market is wiser than the biased opinions of the journalists.

The fact that it was under the expectations (yet was still a positive report) fueled investor confidence that the Fed will likely leave interest rates alone - likely for the rest of the year is my thinking/gut feel.

The LIBS hate getting drubbed in elections. They feel that coming on.

It's gonna be a nasty campaign by ole John 'F' Kerry I tell ya !

[FreeAtlanta]

We need to post and email this around.

It dispells the myth that the left keeps pushing about a jobless recovery and how bad the job situation is. Thankfully, we don't have Jimmy Carter in office, or we might very well have gone into a depression.

[Grampa Dave]

Where did this chart comes from.

We need that data before we send it around.

I have been looking for this chart for a few years.

Thanks!

[FreeAtlanta]

I got the data from GraniteStateConservative on this thread: post #7, and then turned it into a chart. I don't know where he got the data. You have a good point that I needed a reference before making the chart and asking that it be promoted. The data looks reasonable.

GraniteStateConservative, can you give a reference source? - Thanks

[hobson]

Looks like it's right. It is in line with this unemployment table (1920-2003):

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0104719.html

[MeekOneGOP]

[Grampa Dave]

I have seen that chart before on FR, and we need to get the exact reference data before we start sending it.

I have a list of about 40 moderates and 10 so called conservatives who still blame GW for the Clintoon recession.

When we get the specifics and who prepared the chart and is okay, I will be sending it out.

[b4its2late]

Great graph. Thanks for the ping....

[BOBTHENAILER]

It's not the economy that's in the toilet.

It's little willie in the can.

[speekinout]

At the rate we're going, the jobless rate will be 4.9% by November -- then we'll really be DOOMED! ;-)

With the right spin, that can be made to look like doom. I live in a county with an unemployment rate of 3.5%. People move up the job ladder. There's no one left to do jobs like supermarket checkers, movie ticket sellers, bank clerks, store clerks, day labor, hospital workers, etc.

The anti-Bush people will spin the jobless numbers whichever way they need to.

[raloxk]

"I'm at a loss to explain the 384k difference in the two numbers. Perhaps some of them are going into self employment or working for a small business that's overlooked in the business survey."


BINGO!!!!!

[Destro]

Employment in service-producing industries, which include retailers, banks and government agencies

Service and govt jobs? We are crowing about that?

[GraniteStateConservative]

The source is the St. Louis Fed. It's probably available on dozens of other government sites.