{"id":7745,"date":"2024-02-05T14:09:43","date_gmt":"2024-02-05T20:09:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.keystonefinancial.com\/?post_type=oi_article&p=7745"},"modified":"2024-02-05T14:09:45","modified_gmt":"2024-02-05T20:09:45","slug":"market-commentary-february-05-2024","status":"publish","type":"oi_article","link":"https:\/\/www.keystonefinancial.com\/articles\/market-commentary-february-05-2024","title":{"rendered":"Market Commentary | February 05, 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
We\u2019ve been hearing a lot about layoffs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last week, the January 2024 Challenger Report found that employers based in the United States cut more than 82,000 jobs in January. That\u2019s a lot. In December 2023, about 35,000 layoffs were announced. The January job cuts were concentrated in a few industries, and the reasons for the cuts included companies restructuring to lower costs and reorienting toward artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Layoffs often are a sign the economy is losing steam, but that doesn\u2019t appear to have been the case in January since employers added more than 353,000 new jobs during the month, reported the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If we subtract the number of layoffs from the number of new jobs (353,000 \u2013 82,000 = 271,000), the total number of jobs created in January was still significantly higher than the 185,000 new jobs economists anticipated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Overall, the U.S. unemployment rate remained at 3.7 percent, although there were differences by gender and race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Women (over age 20) 3.2 percent<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Men (over age 20) 3.6 percent<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Asian 2.9 percent<\/p>\n\n\n\n
White 3.4 percent<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hispanic\/Latino 5.0 percent<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Black 5.3 percent<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The BLS reported that wages moved higher in January. Average hourly earnings increased 4.5 percent over the 12 months through January 2024. If inflation continues to slow \u2013 it was 3.4 percent in December \u2013 that could be good news for consumers. However, the fight against rising prices continues. Katia Dmitrieva of Bloomberg<\/em> explained:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe [employment] report clearly shows that demand [for workers] and wage pressures are far from cooling. That is consequential for the Federal Reserve, which has been signaling that the strength in the labor market shows inflationary pressures are still in the system, and that\u2019s something policymakers will keep in mind before pivoting to rate cuts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n After falling for much of the week, U.S. Treasury yields rose after strong jobs data dashed hopes the Federal Reserve would cut rates sooner rather than later. Stock investors remained confident despite the possibility that rates would remain higher for longer, and major U.S. stock indices finished the week higher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n