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The unemployment data released this morning (Oct. 8) are dismal, but the stock market is up, as many expected. That's because the Federal Reserve has said it will keep money flowing and interest rates declining as long as unemployment remains high. Thus, bad news on Main Street is glorious news on Wall Street. Already, the banks can borrow from the Fed at effectively zero percent short term interest rates. But with unemployment continuing weak, the Fed is expected to use quantitative easing, or the artificial lowering of long term rates, which are already at record lows. This morning, the government announced that the economy lost 95,000 jobs in September; the unemployment rate stayed at 9.6%. The government said private sector payrolls rose by 64,000 in September, but government payrolls dropped 159,000. However, that 64,000 private sector gain is extremely suspect. On Wednesday, the Automatic Data Processing (ADP) report indicated that there were 39,000 private sector jobs LOST in September. The government reported that the private sector added 428,000 jobs from new businesses that are not counted in the main surveys. This is purely a computerized estimate. It, too, is suspect.
The unemployment data released this morning (Oct. 8) are dismal, but the stock market is up, as many expected. That's because the Federal Reserve has said it will keep money flowing and interest rates declining as long as unemployment remains high. Thus, bad news on Main Street is glorious news on Wall Street. Already, the banks can borrow from the Fed at effectively zero percent short term interest rates. But with unemployment continuing weak, the Fed is expected to use quantitative easing, or the artificial lowering of long term rates, which are already at record lows. This morning, the government announced that the economy lost 95,000 jobs in September; the unemployment rate stayed at 9.6%. The government said private sector payrolls rose by 64,000 in September, but government payrolls dropped 159,000. However, that 64,000 private sector gain is extremely suspect. On Wednesday, the Automatic Data Processing (ADP) report indicated that there were 39,000 private sector jobs LOST in September. The government reported that the private sector added 428,000 jobs from new businesses that are not counted in the main surveys. This is purely a computerized estimate. It, too, is suspect.