BY: MARSHALL BARTLETT
Senior Vice President / Portfolio Manager
Announced this morning, Initial Jobless claims for the previous week fell by 8,000 to a total of 211,000 and have remained in the low 200k range since the start of 2018. Historically, amounts below 300k have been indicative of a healthy labor market. Today, the labor market is healthy as jobs are growing, albeit at a moderate pace in recent months, and the unemployment rate is low, at 3.6%. This strength has not yet completely fed through to higher wages and ultimately higher inflation in the overall economy, allowing the Federal Reserve to conduct their recent “mid-cycle” rate cut adjustment. As long as jobless claims remain low, the labor market should support slow and steady GDP growth in the months ahead. Meanwhile, the U.S. and China continue to announce some progress on trade negotiations, which pushed bond yields higher overnight and equity futures also higher 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.
