On Friday morning, the Labor Department reported solid U.S. jobs market numbers from March.
The U.S. added 236,000 jobs in March, slightly missing average economist estimates of 240,000 jobs. The unemployment rate fell 0.1% to 3.5%, below economist estimates of 3.6%. Wages were up 4.2% year-over-year and increased 0.3% from February.
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY traded lower for the first time in four weeks ahead of Friday's jobs report.
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Labor Market Resilient: Jeffrey Roach, chief economist for LPL Financial, said the labor market remains resilient despite rising U.S. recession risks.
"The Fed will likely hike one more time to cool the economy as long as they do not see systemic risks within the banking sector," Roach said.
Bill Adams, chief economist for Comerica Bank, said the tight labor market is becoming less of a concern for the Federal Reserve, but inflation is still running way too hot.
"The Fed will more likely than not hold their target rate unchanged at the next decision in early May, but an upside surprise from next week’s inflation reports could tip the balance toward a final quarter percentage point hike of this cycle," Adams said.
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Another Hike Coming? Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist for LPL Financial, said the "Fed's job isn't finished" in its ongoing battle against inflation.
"The Fed will more than likely raise rates in May as the labor market continues to defy the cumulative effects of the rate hikes that began over a year ago," Krosby said.
Charlie Ripley, senior investment strategist for Allianz Investment Management, said the impressive jobs growth in the leisure and hospitality sector is another sign of ongoing strength in the service side of the economy.
"Overall, the latest read from this employment data shouldn’t do much to sway the Fed in either direction, but taken in conjunction with recent job openings data and weaker survey-based data, the argument for a pause in rate hikes is building," Ripley said.
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