This morning the all important Job Report was released and it was ugly...worse than expected. The 525,000 forecast came in at a loss of 598,000 jobs. This is the greatest job loss since 1974.
Job losses for all of 2008 were also adjusted higher...at 3 million. The government said employment at the end of the year (08) was 138.2 million, a little bit better than initially reported.
Our unemployment rate jumps to 7.6% and the highest unemployment rate since September 1992. But wait...7.6% represent those who are unemployed and looking for work. After adding in those who are too discouraged to look for work and those who are forced to take a cut back in hours to part-time, the alternative unemployment rate rises to 13.9%.
Last night at the Democratic Retreat, President Obama addressed democrats in a message that seemed directly aimed at the US Senate. The Senate is still working on the stimulus bill and looking to tear down some of the spending. Obama proclaimed in his message last night that a stimulus bill is a spending bill. He went on to say that we are "not going to get relief by turning back to the same policies of the last 8 years." It seems this bill has a lot of spending in it - in fact, even the infamous ACORN is getting a piece of the pie. According to Ben Stein, almost half of the proposed spending will directly benefit the unions...here's more:
•· $50 million to the National Endowment for the Arts
•· $75 million to fund anti-smoking programs
•· $650 million for the switch from analog television to digital
•· $335 million to help prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases
•· $600 million for "climate change" research programs
That is just a snapshot of the shopping list in this bill. What happened to Job creation? What happened to shoring up our financial sector?
The ugly miss on the Jobs report in a more "normal" climate would have been good news for bonds. Instead, Stocks held their gain as traders likely view this report and understand that the government is hard at work to stimulate the economy and create jobs which would benefit the financial sector. Renewed talks of "mark to market" gave Stocks a boost yesterday carrying thru to today. This momentum in Stocks is weighing on Mortgage Bonds. Bonds are lower on the day, but improved from the worst levels seen this morning.
Mortgage Bonds have moved mostly sideways in a downward trend, attempting to stabilize.
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