Ouch ... Sluggish US Job Growth
A measly 51.000 jobs added in September; sure does smell of a recession or what?
US non-farm payrolls growth unexpectedly slumped to its lowest for nearly a year in September, with the giant US economy adding just 51,000 jobs in the month.
The figures were far worse than Wall Street was expecting.
The news was not all gloomy, however, as the August figure was revised up to 188,000 from the 128,000 previously reported while the country's unemployment rate ticked down to 4.6% from 4.7% the month before.
Of course Roubini is also all over this one.
Dave Altig sums up the reactions from other blogs; reactions are actually quite differentiated.
'What to make of the September employment report? On the one hand you have September employment growth checking in at a measly 51,000 jobs. On the other hand you have the news that 75,000 60,000 more jobs were created in August than previously thought.'
Oh and I think Felix Salmon just called me and others chicken without heads :).
'The markets love to run around like headless chickens on the first Friday of the month, when non-farm payrolls are released. This month's are weaker than expected! But unemployment fell! Sell! Buy! Sell!'