A BTE Jobs Number Before the Holiday

The rate of unemployment slows (future revisions permitting) and a much better than expected Non Farm Payrolls number hits The Street just before the long holiday weekend…

From MarketWatch:

Nonfarm payrolls fell by 54,000 last month, matching the level of revised losses recorded the previous month, the U.S. Labor Department said Friday. Economists had predicted a drop of 110,000. The unemployment rate, calculated using a separate household survey, edged up to 9.6%, as expected, after holding at 9.5% for previous two months.

It’s a tepid number (like all signs of this tepid recovery) but I guess it gives the bulls a chance to hold the line on this week’s constructive action in stocks, Dow futures up nicely as of this posting.

Source:

US Stock Futues Jump (MarketWatch)