Jobs Day
With all of the softening in the labor market, it’s time for the Fed to actively discuss starting the process of rate normalization.
The totality of the evidence points more towards a cooling (but still good!) labor market than heating up, despite the payroll prints.
This is overall a good jobs report. Job growth is solid, and there are no obvious signs of weakness.
After what appeared to be (on the surface and at first glance) a hot January, the labor market data for February 2024 signaled a return to the narrative we followed throughout last year: the labor market is slowing, but remains strong.
The headline January labor market data was strong, but there are still some signs of weakness under the surface.
In December, the labor market risks shifted further over towards unemployment.
After a somewhat worrying October report, November’s labor market data shows lower recession risk.
