The Labor Department reports that US companies continued to hire workers at a strong pace in January. The 296,000 gain in payrolls last month beat the consensus forecast by a wide margin. Even more impressive, the annual rate of growth for the nonfarm workforce in the private sector ticked up to the strongest pace in nearly three years.
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January delivered a strong rebound in the global markets, lifting all the major asset classes amid a powerful renewal of risk-on sentiment. The strong start to 2019 contrasts with December’s rout that inflicted deep losses far and wide.
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Trump is upbeat about trade talks with China: WSJ
Trump: border talks with Congress a ‘waste of time’: NY Times
Economists expect softer growth in today’s payrolls report for Jan: Bloomberg
Gov’t shutdown may complicate analysis of today’s payrolls report: NY Times
Eurozone mfg inches closer to stagnation in Jan: IHS Markit
China Mfg PMI: survey data reflects slight contraction in Jan: IHS Markit
The Fed’s pause on rate hikes suggests softer growth ahead: Reuters
Chicago PMI: growth cooled in January to moderate pace: Chicago PMI
US wage growth in Q4 exceeded 3% for first time in a decade: CNBC
US job cuts up 19% year-over-year in January: CG&C
Jobless claims in US surged last week, possibly due to seasonal quirk: MW
New home sales in US rose sharply in Nov but annual pace is still negative: WSJ