Thursdays are always the day of the week that Wall Street focuses on the workingman. This week was no exception, as we received six new reports from Challenger, ADP, and the Labor Department.
Overall it paints one of the best pictures of jobs in America that we’ve seen in some time.
The morning began with the June report on Job Cuts from Challenger, Grey, and Christmas, the giant placement firms. Bottom line: job cuts declined to just 40,709, nearly half the level of the month before—excellent news for the Workers.
You can see the report here:
Then came the biggest surprise of the day, as ADP reported that the number of new employees hired increased by 497,000 in June—one of the best reports that we’ve seen in some time.
Note: Goldman has raised some questions about this report, indicating that some of this employment gain is due to “seasonal adjustment.” We’ll have to wait and see.
You can find the ADP Report here:
More good news from the Department of Labor: although the weekly claims for unemployment insurance rose slightly to 248K, the long-term trend (4-week average) declined by 3K.
The Unemployment Report is here:
https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/OPA/newsreleases/ui-claims/20231518.pdf
Finally, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the number of job openings (JOLTS) fell below 10mm again to just 9.8 mm, down half a million from the week before. Wall Street was beginning to get nervous after last week’s report showed Job Openings above 10mm, a level we were stuck at for over a year.
JOLTS Press Release here:
