Courtesy of Benzinga.
Last week’s U.S. jobs report certainly came as quite a surprise to the market, but was the number really as bad as it seemed? A number of economists quickly rushed in to point out that a Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) strike and inclement weather skewed the numbers.
JPMorgan analyst Andrew Steinerman is not so quick to dismiss the report as noise. Although he admits that it may not be as bad as it seems on the surface, JPMorgan is certainly more cautious in its view of the U.S. labor market.
According to Steinerman, the immediate impact of the weak May report will likely come later this month when the Federal Reserve decides on whether or not to raise interest rates. JPMorgan now believes that the Fed will once again delay a rate hike until the labor market re-gains its previous stability.
JPMorgan analysts remain optimistic that May was simply a bump in the road for an otherwise healthy U.S. economy. The firm is still forecasting at least 2.0 percent GDP growth throughout the remainder of 2016.
“We feel that a 2+ percent real GDP growth for the remainder of the year would be conducive to temporary worker growth but acknowledge the inherent downside risks apparent in [Friday’s] jobs report,” Steinerman concluded.
After a -0.3 percent session on Friday following the jobs report, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE: SPY) opened Monday’s session higher by 0.4 percent.
Disclosure: The author holds no position in the stocks mentioned.
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