Job Creation
The actions of businesses and governments to increase the employment rate, to increase the number of jobs in the economy, are referred to as “job creation.” In times of recession or economic contraction, job creation becomes a priority of government. Since the primary goal of corporation is profit, job creation on the private level often occurs only when economic conditions warrant the risk for businesses to grow and when successful marketing and goods/services development requires businesses to expand.
What the Latest Job Creation Data Indicate for This Market Sector
By Sasha Cekerevac for Investment Contrarians | May 8, 2013
The latest data on job creation by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) are interesting for several reasons. While there are some glimmers of hope, there is still much more work that needs to be done.
For April, job creation improved by 165,000, with the 12-month average now at 169,000 per month. The long-term unemployed level continues to be high, although it is decreasing. Currently, there are 4.4 million long-term unemployed, a decrease of 258,000 during the month of April. This lowered the percentage of long-term unemployed to 37.4% of the overall unemployed, down 2.2% for the month. Another important metric is the participation rate, which remained at 63.3% and is at historically low levels.
Clearly, economic growth needs to accelerate for job creation to continue moving upward. The participation rate remains quite low, and the large number of long-term unemployed is stubbornly high.
The market reacted positively, not only from the headline number, but also the extremely large positive revisions to the previous months of job creation data. While economic growth appears to be slowing, jobs data were much stronger than previously reported, with February and March job creation data revised upward by 64,000 and 50,000, respectively, from the initially reported data.
Do these data indicate any sectors worth investing in?
Yes; as the healthcare industry continues with a steady pace of job creation, with 19,000 newly employed in April, this brings the 12-month average for job creation in the healthcare industry to 24,000 per month. As an investor, with economic growth still relatively anemic nationwide, it appears the healthcare industry will continue on its upward trajectory.
The new … Read More
When It Comes to Jobs Numbers, the Market Is Trading on Anything but the Truth
By George Leong for Investment Contrarians | May 7, 2013
Pop the champagne; it’s time to rejoice and toast this month’s jobs numbers, isn’t it? The S&P 500 edged up to another record high above 1,600, while the Dow is seriously eyeing 15,000.
I did think those targets for the two indices were achievable, but not this early in the year.
You can thank the Federal Reserve and the astounding job creation for the high jobs numbers—of course, I’m being sarcastic to a degree.
According to the United States Department of Labor, job creation tallied 165,000 jobs in April, better than the Briefing.com estimate of 135,000. The March reading was also revised upward to 138,000 new jobs from the previous muted reading of 88,000. The 165,000 new jobs is decent, but let’s be realistic: that number is no reason for the S&P 500 to be trading at a record high. The truth of the matter is that we need to see a higher job creation number.
The unemployment rate fell to a four-year low of 7.5%, much better than the Briefing.com estimate of 7.7%. Again, great, but I think the drop has more to do with job seekers leaving the search.
Yes, the job creation numbers are a myth as far as the real strength of the labor market.
The Labor Department estimates there are 11.7 million people unemployed, but in reality, it is probably twice that because many workers have quit looking for work out of frustration.
In fact, a closer examination of the job creation numbers from the Labor Department tells us another story—not what is in the headlines and not what the government wants you to know…. Read More
Did the Federal Reserve Just Signal More Monetary Policy?
By Sasha Cekerevac for Investment Contrarians | May 6, 2013
The latest meeting by the Federal Reserve was quite significant regarding its monetary policy program, and many economists will now need to revise their analyses.
The key sentence in the Fed’s statement was, “The Committee is prepared to increase or reduce the pace of its purchases to maintain appropriate policy accommodation as the outlook for the labor market or inflation changes.” (Source: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System web site, May 1, 2013, last accessed May 2, 2013.)
Why is this so significant? For the past few months, many economists and analysts have been expecting that the Federal Reserve would begin to discuss when it would be appropriate to begin reducing its aggressive monetary policy program, specifically the monthly $85.0 billion bond-buying level.
Many were thinking that at this meeting the Federal Reserve would indicate that at some point in the future it would begin reducing its aggressive monetary policy stance. While the Fed did indicate that it might be prepared to reduce bond buying and lower monetary policy measures, this is the first mention in its press releases that an increase is possible.
In my opinion, this indicates that the Federal Reserve now believes that additional monetary policy might be necessary, whereas we all had been hoping that the U.S. economy would begin to improve. Clearly, the recent data has shown otherwise.
Job creation remains very weak, and various sectors, such as manufacturing, do not indicate that they will increase their level of production anytime soon. Internationally, we are also seeing continued weakness in many countries, which can only put downward pressure on our own economy.
With … Read More
Latest Retail Data Sending Warning to Investors
By Sasha Cekerevac for Investment Contrarians | Apr 17, 2013
With the market hitting all-time highs, many investors are wondering how investor sentiment can be so positive when job creation is still not as strong as it should be. This divergence between the financial markets and the real economy cannot last forever.
Investor sentiment has been propped up by the Federal Reserve, which is trying to prime and ignite the U.S. economy. While job creation is certainly better now than it was a few years ago, there is still much more work that needs to be accomplished.
One very visible sign that the economy is not running at 100% capacity was the recently released retail sales data. For March, retail sales decreased by 0.4%, although this did follow a very strong February that showed a one-percent gain. A survey of 85 economists by Bloomberg had a median forecast of zero (unchanged) from March. (Source: Kowalski, A., “Retail Sales in U.S. Declined by Most in Nine Months,” Bloomberg, April 12, 2013.)
Job creation obviously plays a very important role when it comes to retail sales. And remember that like most developed nations, a vast majority of the U.S. economy is based on consumer spending.
In this case, investor sentiment might have become too bullish on retail-oriented stocks. If job creation does not accelerate, we could see a further impact on discretionary spending, which would break down investor sentiment throughout this year.
However, this recent retail sales data might have been a blip, as the trend is still fairly strong. Remember that one data point does not make a trend. Following stronger-than-expected data earlier in the year, a pullback was expected due … Read More
Why Earnings Outlooks Are More Important Than This Quarter’s Results
By Sasha Cekerevac for Investment Contrarians | Apr 12, 2013
With the financial reporting season underway, one of the most important considerations is not the most recent quarter’s earnings results, but the earnings outlook companies are giving for the remainder of the year.
One market sector that I like to watch is the retail area that sells to the average American, as this helps give a clear picture of the underlying fundamentals of the U.S. economy.
Family Dollar Stores, Inc. (NYSE/FDO) just released its earnings outlook for the remainder of the year, and it was far below what analysts had expected. In January of this year, Family Dollar offered an expected earnings outlook for fiscal 2013 of approximately $4.20 per share; this has now been reduced to $3.93 a share. (Source: Burritt, C., “Family Dollar Cuts Profit Forecast as Shoppers Cut Back,” Bloomberg, April 10, 2013.)
During the second quarter, Family Dollar reported that same-store sales increased by 2.9%, for stores open longer than 13 months, also coming in below estimates. This company is interesting, as the lower-income market sector is showing continued weakness.
The significant decline for the earnings outlook of each company tells me that all of this quantitative stimulus is doing little to help the average American, as this market sector is not showing any signs of improving.
The lack of job creation and the increase in the number of people pulling out of the jobs market are now having a direct impact on the market sector that caters to millions of people. With continued economic weakness, there is little hope that the earnings outlook will improve anytime soon.
It is actually quite shocking, considering the trillions … Read More
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