economicsClosed May 3, 2024
Traders Pull Forward Fed Rate-Cut Bets on Soft Jobs Data
- Jobs gain is slowest in six months as unemployment rises
- Traders pull forward bets for first Fed rate cut to September
- Wage gains come in less than expected
- Health and private education account for over half of jobs gains
Thanks for joining us. Here are five key takeaways from the April US employment report, released Friday:
- Nonfarm payrolls advanced 175,000 last month, the smallest gain in six months while the unemployment rate ticked up to 3.9% and wage gains slowed.
- Job growth slowed within leisure and hospitality, construction and government. Payrolls declined at automakers and temporary-help providers. Gains were concentrated in health care, transportation and retail trade.
- The number of weekly hours worked edged down to 34.3 while the number of employees working part-time for economic reasons climbed to the highest since June 2; the Black unemployment rate tumbled last month, after having surged in March.
- Aggregate weekly payrolls, a broad measure of employment, hours and earnings, were unchanged from a month earlier.
- Stock futures rose as bond yields tumbled. Contracts on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 edged higher by more than 1%, while Treasury two-year yields dropped 10 basis points to 4.77%. The dollar weakened.
