John Lynch, the CIO of Comerica Wealth Management, is urging investors to remain cautious and not make hasty decisions based on the latest job report. The report shows that U.S. employers added 206,000 jobs in June, slightly below the revised 218,000 added in May but more than expected. While the unemployment rate inched up to 4.1% from 4%, this was due to adjustments made to April and May data points which lowered them by a combined 111,000.
This news may be pleasing to the Federal Reserve as it is monitoring signs that inflation is easing. Following the job report, U.S. stocks rose with the Dow Jones, S&P 500, and Nasdaq Composite Index all showing gains. Average hourly earnings rose 3.9% year-over-year in line with estimates. The hiring surge was seen in government, social assistance and healthcare sectors while retail and manufacturing lost workers. The ADP report showed that companies added only 150,000 jobs last month, lower than the expected gain of 160,000 by economists and down from the revised figure of 157
