The Week Ahead: ADP, Jobless Claims And The All-Important Jobs Number

In a busy week on the employment reporting front, the ADP Employment Report is released Wednesday at 8:15 a.m. ET, with expectations of a gain of 230,000 versus last month's gain of 213,000. Jobless claims are slated for Thursday at 8:30 a.m. ET, with a consensus of 283,000 new unemployment claims versus last week's 287,000 number. Finally, the all-important jobs number is due out 8:30 a.m. ET on Friday, with the unemployment rate expected to stay steady at 5.9 percent and non-farm payrolls to increase by 240,000. versus a gain of 248,000 in September. This will be the first jobs report with QE having officially been ended, so it will be interesting to note the market reaction to a divergent number.