JPMorgan's Worst Fears May Have Just Come True In The Jobs Number

Good news on Main Street can easily translate into fear on Wall Street, as Friday's jobs report showed.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed a $0.12 increase in average hourly wages and a slightly longer nonfarm workweek, which might indicate a healthier labor market coming into the new year.

See Also: Jobs Report: Good News For Wages, But Jobs Added Might 'Exacerbate' Fed Fears

In a research note issued Friday morning, JPMorgan said a "bad" jobs number south of 160,000 jobs added would "exacerbate growth fears." It noted that it would take a huge jobs and wages uptick and a percentage point decline in unemployment to create near-term risk of a Fed hike.

The U.S. economy added 151,000 nonfarm jobs in January, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Friday. The unemployment rate stayed at 4.9 percent, down 0.8 percent.

Sectors with the largest increases in employment were retail (58,000 jobs added), healthcare (37,000 jobs added) and manufacturing (29,000 hires).

Either way, JPMorgan noted, "The Fed is likely to emphasize overall market stability (which is more a function of oil and China)" than domestic jobs trends after the successful job growth in 2015.

Posted In: Analyst ColorNewsEcon #sMarketsAnalyst RatingsJPMorgan
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