The KUIK Morning Market Report for Friday, August 4:
Markets are mixed.
Index
Direction
Change
Units
Index
Time
Change
Dow Jones Industrial Average
Up
21
points
22,047
7:03 AM
S&P500
Up
0.1%
percent
2,474
1.68
Nasdaq Composite
Down
0.0%
percent
6,338
(1.97)
30 Year Treasury
Up
3
Basis Points
2.84
Annual Yield
The Labor Department reports the U.S. created 209,000 new jobs in July, beating Wall Street forecasts. Economists expected only 175,000 new nonfarm jobs. The unemployment rate fell to 4.3% from 4.4%, retouching a 16-year low. Average wages climbed 0.3% to $26.36 an hour. Hourly pay is up 2.5% from a year ago. The average workweek was flat at 34.5 hours. Hiring was led by professional firms, health-care providers, and restaurants.
The trade deficit shrank nearly 6% in June to an eight-month low, but the U.S. is on track to post a bigger gap in 2017 than it did in 2016. The deficit fell to $43.6 billion in June from $46.4 billion in May, according to the Commerce Department. Economists expected a $44 billion gap. Although that’s the lowest level since last October, the U.S. trade deficit is still about 11% higher through the first half of 2017 compared with the same period in 2016.
Serving the West Side first, I am Bill Roller of BR Capital for 1360 KUIK.
