Slight Positive Jobs Growth | Daily Market Update

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Friday, February 5, 2021

Top Story

Jobs growth slightly positive

  • The US economy gained 49,000 jobs in January according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, missing Bloomberg survey estimates of a 105,000 gain, with strong negative revisions to December numbers.
  • The unemployment rate fell to 6.3%, but was paired with a slightly reduced labor force participation rate.
  • We take a closer look at the state of the US labor market in today’s LPL Research blog.

Daily Insights

US stocks open higher as Senate moves forward with vote on budget reconciliation

  • European markets were higher in midday trading with the United Kingdom continuing to lag behind its peers.
  • Asian stocks mostly higher with China the lone decliner.

Technical update

  • The S&P 500 Index, Nasdaq Composite and Russell 2000 all closed at record highs Thursday and are on track for their best week since the election three months ago.
  • Crude prices have risen nearly 9% this week, making 52-week highs and tracking towards the best week since early October.

COVID-19 news

  • The United States reported 124,000 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, a modest increase from the day prior, but still down 20% week over week (source: COVID Tracking Project).
  • Winter storms in the northeast cited as a contributing factor to backlogged cases.
  • Cumulative hospitalizations continue to decline, now under 90,000 for the first time since before Thanksgiving.
  • Johnson & Johnson officially applies for emergency use authorization for potential third vaccine approval in the US.

LPL Research in the Media

LPL Financial Chief Market Strategist Ryan Detrick joined CNBC’s Trading Nation recently to discuss February seasonality, why January matters, and the Super Bowl Indicator. Watch Ryan discuss these concepts with Seema Moody here.

Street View Video Delivers A Message In A Bottle

LPL Research Chief Investment Officer Burt White contends there is one metric above all others that may tell us how well the economy is doing in the new Street View “Message In A Bottle”.

 

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