The ADP Employment Report (which I still don’t really have a lot of confidence in) reported this morning that there were 238,000 new jobs created last month. Economists polled anticipated only 200,000 new jobs, down from last month’s 215,000. So this is more (alleged) good news for the job market in particular and our domestic economy as a whole. The official Jobs Report, including the Unemployment Rate, will be released this Friday by the Bureau of Labor. Statistical harbingers anticipate 197,000 official new jobs and the unemployment rate to stay at 7.0%.
Just after noon our time today (about the time that the snow is supposed to clear temporarily), the Fed will release the minutes from their December meeting. Traders will be dissecting the text for clues about the next step in the taper plan.
Mortgage pricing flopped off the ski jump, but continues to move inside the sideways pattern, pushing 30 year rates back up into the 4.0-4.5% range.
