Unemployment Better Than Expected - Or Is It?
Posted On Friday, June 5, 2009 at at 10:08 AM by Finance FanaticMarkets are cheering for a better than expected jobless report that was released this morning. There was a 345,000 net change in jobless for the US in the month of May. Market analysts were expecting a loss near 520,000. The results have caused for many investors to cheer as the market is trading moderately up today. Even though the numbers seem convincingly positive, as always there are things to consider behind the scenes.
First off, the jobless report came in "better than expected", however the overall unemployment rate change was significantly worse than expected, coming in at 9.4%, compared to the expected 9.2%. Confusing right? In addition to that, the average workweek fell to 33.1 hours per week, which is the lowest we've seen since this measure began in 1964. Weekly work hours are commonly used as a forward looking indicator, with the theory being that companies cut hours before they cut jobs. If that is the case, there seems to be not much to cheer about.
Also, remember that this report does not factor the many "self-employed" citizens who are out there and feeling the pressures of this economy. We should be feeling GM's job cuts hit the index the following two to three months. So, yes we like the reduction in jobless numbers, but other data seems very discouraging. For those that have lost their jobs, RiseSmart.com is a great place to look for jobs, especially 100k salaries and above.
I received a mixed response about the new format, but more seemed to lean toward the smaller, more frequent posts. For those who do like the one daily post, reading all the smaller ones together should not differ much and all will be emailed at once in the evening to those who are subscribed. So, we'll see how it goes. Happy Trading.
good picture
Smaller, more frequent posts are a great idea!