A Strong growing job market is not a necessary part of a stock market rally.However, there is one thing that the stock market does need in order to build significant gains: confidence.Investors hate uncertainty; It’s a cliché, but it’s true.
If businesses continue to see lower profit and revenue expansion but refuse to hire, how do they plan to grow in the next year?The direction of American hiring trends are a crucial indicator of economic recovery and consumer spending, and therefore important to investors in any market. But the added pressure of uncertainty and recent confusion over economic trends makes this a make-it-or-break-it report.
Is there actually a strong hiring trend as we thought in late 2013, and thus higher hopes for wages and consumer spending in 2014?Many analysts are expecting a modest beat over the 150,000 forecast for Friday. Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch, for instance, both reported optimistic outlooks recently.
But it’s undeniable that there’s no margin for error here. The forecast is still disappointing considering October and November saw over 200,000 jobs added, and many were expecting the upwards momentum to continue into 2014. Simply hitting the mark may not be cause for celebration, and missing the lower target would assuredly spook Wall Street at a time that it’s already quite jittery.
If businesses continue to see lower profit and revenue expansion but refuse to hire, how do they plan to grow in the next year?The direction of American hiring trends are a crucial indicator of economic recovery and consumer spending, and therefore important to investors in any market. But the added pressure of uncertainty and recent confusion over economic trends makes this a make-it-or-break-it report.
Is there actually a strong hiring trend as we thought in late 2013, and thus higher hopes for wages and consumer spending in 2014?Many analysts are expecting a modest beat over the 150,000 forecast for Friday. Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch, for instance, both reported optimistic outlooks recently.
But it’s undeniable that there’s no margin for error here. The forecast is still disappointing considering October and November saw over 200,000 jobs added, and many were expecting the upwards momentum to continue into 2014. Simply hitting the mark may not be cause for celebration, and missing the lower target would assuredly spook Wall Street at a time that it’s already quite jittery.