Today’s big NFP is as close to consensus as we have seen in recent years: within 1k of the estimates:
Peter Boockvar writes:
December Payrolls fell by 524k, about in line with estimates and well below the whisper of 600k-700k. But, the prior 2 mo’s were revised lower by 154k. The unemployment rate also rose to 7.2%, .2% higher than expected and is at the highest level since Jan ’93. This was due to an 806k drop in Household Employment with a 173k drop in the Civilian Labor Force. The Augmented Unemployment rate, which includes those that want a job but have stopped looking, rose to 10.4% from 9.9%. Avg weekly hours fell to 33.3, a touch less than expected to its lowest level dating back to at least ’64 and is a precursor to more job losses. Construction jobs fell by 101k, mfr’g lost 149k, retail was down by 67k, temp help fell by 81k and leisure/hospitality fell by 22k. Education/health and the always hiring gov’t both added jobs. The Diffusion Index, which measures those industries hiring vs those firing, fell to 25.4 from 27.2, the lowest since the stat began in ’91.
via Jake at Econompic
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