November’s jobs report brought back disappointment with only 210K new jobs being added to the economy, well short of the 550K expected and the 531K surprised last month (which was revised upward to 546K). The unemployment rate ticked down from 4.6% to 4.2%, despite positive news that labor force participation jumped.
Markets wobbled throughout the week with the S&P 500 bouncing and retreating as investors tried to grapple with how Omicron may impact businesses and the economy. All said and done the S&P 500 ended the week down 1.18%.
Initial jobless claims rose a bit to 222K, though a slight tick up was expected and the 199K reported last week was likely a bit exaggerated due to the holidays. The 4-week average is still solidly trending downward.
Both ISM and Markit manufacturing PMIs stayed solidly in expansionary territory, with the ISM ticking up a notch to 61.1 while Markit’s declined nearly a point to 58.3 (readings above 50 indicate expansion).