US

S&P500  +0.61% (2,972.37);   NASDAQ  +0.10% (8,575.62);   DJIA  +1.79% (25,864.78)

This week’s reports:

  • February’s Unemployment Rate fell to 3.5% from January’s 3.6% as Non-Farm Payrolls rose by 273K, the same increase as in January. Labor Force Participation Rate remained unchanged from January’s 63.4%.
  • February’s Average Weekly Hours rose to 34.4 from January’s 34.3. Average Hourly Earnings rose 3.0% y/y versus January’s 3.1% y/y.
  • January’s Consumer Credit rose $12.02 billion from January’s $20.25 billion. The credit increase slowed as borrowing on credit cards declined following a surge in December.
  • Q4 2019 Non-Farm Productivity rose 1.2% from Q3’s +1.4%. Unit Labor Costs rose 0.9% from Q3’s 1.4%.
  • February’s Markit Manufacturing PMI declined to 50.7 from January’s 50.8. Services PMI was unchanged from January’s 49.4. Composite PMI was unchanged from January’s 49.6.
  • February’s ISM Manufacturing Index declined to 50.1 from January’s 50.9. ISM Non-Manufacturing Index rose to 57.3 from January’s 55.5.
  • January’s Factory Orders fell 0.5% from December’s +1.9%.
  • January’s Wholesale Inventories fell 0.4% from December’s -0.2%.
  • Initial Jobless Claims for the week ending February 28th fell by 3K to 216K. Continuing Jobless Claims for the week ending February 21st rose by 7K to 1.729M.