BY: MARSHALL BARTLETT
Senior Vice President / Portfolio Manager
(615) 591-0611 mbartlett@argenttrust.com
In this morning’s announcement, the economy created 196,000 jobs in March, more than forecasted, and the unemployment rate held steady at 3.8%. Increases occurred in the health care and professional / technical services sectors, while manufacturing was soft. Meanwhile, Average Hourly Earnings increased just 0.1% in March, lower than expected and has increased 3.2% on an annual basis. A balanced report, with a strong headline number recovering from the 20k reading the previous month (now 33k with revisions). Moderating Average Hourly Earnings indicates wages are not placing upward pressure on inflation. The patient stance on interest rate policy by the Federal Reserve remains intact. Following the report, equity futures are higher and bond yields are mostly unchanged heading into the market open.
This material is intended to be for informational purposes only and is intended for current or prospective clients of Argent Trust Company. This information is obtained from sources believed to be reliable, and its accuracy and completeness are not guaranteed. Information does not constitute a recommendation of any investment strategy, is not intended as investment advice and does not take into account all the circumstances of each investor. Forward‐looking assumptions are Argent Trust Company’s current estimates or expectations of future events or future results based on proprietary research and should not be construed as an estimate or promise of results that a portfolio may achieve. Actual results could differ materially from the results indicated by this information. Investments can go down as well as up. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.
