Wednesday was marked by ADP job figures and Non-Manufacturing PMI figures. Private sector employment increased by 213,000 jobs from December to January according to the January ADP National Employment Report. Analysts were anticipating increase by 224,000. Payrolls for businesses with 49 or fewer employees increased by 78,000 jobs in January, down from 115,000 in December. Employment among companies with 50-499 employees was the only segment showing an increase in January.
US Non-Manufacturing PMI registered 56.7 percent in January, 0.2 percentage point higher than the December reading of 56.5 percent. This was in line with market forecasts. This represents continued growth in the non-manufacturing sector.
On Thursday Trade Balance and Unemployment Claims data was released. Latest data showed that the goods and services deficit was $46.6 billion in December, up $6.8 billion from $39.8 billion in November, revised. Decrease to $38.0 billion was predicted. December exports were $194.9 billion, down $1.5 billion from November. December imports were $241.4 billion, up $5.3 billion from November. The December increase in the goods and services deficit reflected an increase in the goods deficit of $6.9 billion to $66.0 billion and an increase in the services surplus of $0.1 billion to $19.5 billion.
Separate report on Unemployment Claims showed that in the week ending January 31, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 278,000, an increase of 11,000 from the previous week's revised level. Analysts were anticipating increase to 287,000. The 4-week moving average was 292,750, a decrease of 6,500 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 750 from 298,500 to 299,250.
Focus of the US part of the Friday's session was on NFP figures. Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 257,000 in January. Analysts were predicting rise by 224, 000. Job gains occurred in retail trade, construction, health care, financial activities, and manufacturing. After incorporating revisions for November and December monthly job gains averaged 336,000 over the past 3 months.
The unemployment rate, at 5.7%, changed little in January and has shown no netchange since October. However, no change from December's 5.6% was anticipated. The number of unemployed persons, at 9.0 million, was little changed in January.
This week markets will be looking at:
JOLTS Job Openings (Tuesday 16:00)
Retail Sales (Thursday 14:30)
Unemployment Claims (Thursday 14:30)
Prelim UoM Consumer Sentiment (Friday 16:00)
