Wow, we have just received one of the worst Non-Farm Payrolls reports on record, which showed that ZERO jobs have been created last month. That’s right, ZERO. Nada. Nilch. The expectation was for a gain of 65K jobs, but not a single one was created.
The good news is that the unemployment rate remained steady at 9.1%, though this is likely because of people dropping out of the labor force. The White House just came out with their own economic projections saying that the unemployment rate would stay above 9% for the rest of the year. No shock there.
Next week we get to hear the President’s ideas for job creation and frankly I couldn’t be less interested. This administration has been a total disaster on the economic front and the US is moving closer to double-dip recession with every passing day of ineffectual political leadership.
Obviously markets have tanked with the exception of gold, as the expectation is that Bernanke and the Fed will attempt to come to the rescue again with QE3. However, the markets aren’t ready just yet to come in to buy on that hope, and we will likely see continued volatility.
Meanwhile, the Dollar tanked right out of the gate against just about everything but the Loonie, though it is gaining strength vs. the currencies deemed “risky” like the Aussie, Kiwi and Euro. The Swiss franc, particularly has been gaining strength.
Oil prices are pulling back despite the threat of a supply disruption from a storm brewing in the Gulf of Mexico, and gold has shot up higher to around $1880.
Not much else matters this morning, and it will be interesting to see if the believe in QE3 can reverse some of this sentiment. My hunch is that we will not see much buying activity here, as we are heading into the long, holiday weekend.
Monday’s holiday is ironically Labor Day. Though it may have to be re-named Non-Labor Day!
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