Employment Situation
Today’s major economic release was January’s Employment report that showed the U.S. unemployment rate fell 0.1% to 3.4% last month when it was widely expected to move a bit higher. The eye-popping number was the 517,000 new payrolls, greatly exceeding forecasts of 190,000. These headlines are leaving many analysts and traders scratching their heads trying to figure out how this is possible after the Fed raised key short-term interest rates seven times last year, most of which are considered to be sizable moves. What this report also does is give the Fed the greenlight to keep raising rates since their previous actions apparently aren’t hurting the labor market. It is this point that is likely the source of this morning’s stock losses.