Kevin Mahn, president and chief information officer (CIO) of Hennion & Walsh Asset Management, cited two areas of concern in the strong March jobs report on “The Big Money Show.”
The U.S. job market is doing well, and there are signs that the situation could continue for the rest of the year, even if the pace has slowed.
“72% of CEOs [are] KPMG US Chairman and CEO Paul Knopf spoke to FOX Business following the company’s announcement. April CEO Outlook Pulse Survey Of the 100 CEOs of large US companies. “But if you look at the economy at a more macro level, I see CEOs becoming more clear about the direction of interest rates.”
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell announced at a press conference in Washington, DC on May 1, 2024 that interest rates would remain unchanged. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
The Federal Reserve kept interest rates on hold for the sixth straight time on Wednesday, according to CME’s FedWatch tool, with plans to cut rates likely pushed back to the second half of the year, although Chairman Jerome Powell acknowledged: There are many jobs.
About the Fed’s latest interest rate decisions
“The labor market remains relatively tight, but the balance between supply and demand is improving,” Powell said at a press conference. “Strong job creation over the past year was accompanied by an increase in the supply of workers, reflecting increased participation among individuals aged 25 to 54 and a continued strong pace of immigration.”
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell leaves a press conference after the Federal Open Market Committee meeting in Washington, DC on May 1, 2024. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Private Recruitment Surprise: ADP
New data this week confirms the resilience of the workforce. The ADP report, which measures private employment, found that 192,000 positions were added in April, while employment in March was revised upward to 208,000 versus 184,000.
The number of job openings, as measured by the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), fell to 8.5 million, down from the record high of 12 million reported in March 2022, but still increasing.
“So demand, especially the demand side of the labor market, is still strong, but it has cooled from the extremely high levels of a few years ago. And we’re seeing that in job openings. We’re seeing further evidence of that in today’s news. ”JOLTS report,” Powell said.
Job openings continued to rise, but fell 0.4% in April, according to recruitment firm Indeed, which Powell mentioned on Wednesday. “Demand for new jobs has cooled, but the number of job openings remains above pre-pandemic levels, with job openings outnumbering unemployed people,” according to Indeed’s Recruiting Lab..
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The government’s jobs report for March surprised everyone by showing that an astonishing 303,000 new jobs were created. Economists on Friday expected about 243,000 positions to be added last month. The unemployment rate is expected to remain at 3.8%.
