Private Sector employment added 234,000 jobs, ADP report shows

Private sector employment increased by 234,000 jobs from December to January according to the January ADP National Employment Report. “We’ve kicked off the year with another month of unyielding job gains,” said Ahu Yildirmaz, vice president and co-head of the ADP Research Institute. “Service providers were firing on all cylinders, posting their strongest gain in more than a year. We also saw robust hiring from midsize and large companies, while job growth in smaller firms slowed slightly.”

CB Consumer Confidence increased to 125.4

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index increased in January, following a decline in December. The Index now stands at 125.4 (1985=100), up from 123.1 in December. The Present Situation Index decreased slightly, from 156.5 to 155.3, while the Expectations Index increased from 100.8 last month to 105.5 this month.

USD - Major events in the week ahead

Events that marked the week:

On Wednesday Existing Home Sales data was published. Existing home sales declined 3.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.57 million units last month amid decreases in all four regions. Unseasonably cold weather probably accounted for some of the weakness as sales in the Northeast and Midwest fell sharply. November’s sales pace was revised down to 5.78 million units, still the highest level since February 2007. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast home sales falling 2.2 percent to a 5.70 million-unit rate in December from a previously reported 5.81 million-unit pace in November.

US GDP missed market forecasts

Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 2.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2017, according to the "advance" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the third quarter, real GDP increased 3.2 percent. The Bureau emphasized that the fourth-quarter advance estimate released today is based on source data that are incomplete or subject to further revision by the source agency.The "second" estimate for the fourth quarter, based on more complete data, will be released on February 28, 2018.