Warm US Jobs Report Leaves Macro Narrative Mostly Intact
The US economy added 199,000 jobs in November, Friday's hotly-anticipated government release showed.
That was comfortably ahead of expectations. Consensus was 185,000. The range of estimates, from nearly 80 forecasters, was 45,000 to 275,000.
Revisions were largely immaterial. September's headline was revised slightly lower. October's month-to-month gain stands at 150,000.
Private payrolls rose 150,000, slightly fewer than expected, and mostly consistent with the November ADP report.
Gains
I’m glad I took TD’s advice and sold duration bonds before the report. Waiting for the re-entry..
I travel quite a bit and I am noticing that almost everywhere I have recently been (Midwest, Rocky Mountains, Southern California), the entry level workforce is being filled by “very new to the workforce” workers, many of whom are recent immigrants. Language and skills are something they are working hard to improve upon.
I find this very exciting- as our country can actually still provide an opportunity for economic improvement for anyone who can get to the US and is willing to work hard. I still favor legal immigration- but illegal seems to be working better than no immigration.
Patience, assistance and encouragement from customers will help these people to help themselves and to grow our country.