From Bloomberg via ZeroHedge:
Following today's jobs report, the market's reaction to the unexpectedly
strong January payrolls visualized in the charts below, is
straightforward: the disappointing wage growth is an indication that the
Fed may not hike rates for quite a bit longer than expected, and will
likely will be forced to reduce its rate hike expectations from 3 to 2
(in line with the market) or fewer if wage growth continue to stagnate.
Sure enough, Wall Street's strategists agree. As the
following compilation of reactions shows, the prevailing reaction to
today's report is that while January job gains beat expectations, slower
wage growth and disappointing underemployment figures help temper
expectations for a near-term Fed hike.
Some examples, courtesy of Bloomberg:
TD (Mark McCormick)
- Jobs number is sweet spot for risk markets; growth is holding up with little impetus to nudge the Fed into action next month
- A softer read on wages and uncertainty over the economic agenda probably keeps USD sidelined for a bit longer
- This scenario favors continued momentum in some of the
growth-sensitive currencies; could see the rallies in AUD, NZD and even
NOK persist near-term
BofA (Michelle Meyer)
- Investors were setting up for a higher number given upside surprise
in ADP on Wednesday; however, this was offset by increase in
unemployment and softness in wages
- Report suggests labor market might not be as tight as previously believed
- Likelihood of the Fed hiking in March is fairly low and jobs report consistent with that
- BofA expects one Fed rate increase this year, in September, with risk of two rate hikes
Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi (Chris Rupkey)
- January employment report “strikes a blow” in hopes for a faster pace of rate hikes from “slow and steady” Fed
- “‘Big jobs today, but what about tomorrow’ will be the concern from Fed officials”
- Fed will be unlikely to act before there’s more certainty in Trump
policies that could boost growth, make easier monetary conditions from
Fed less necessary
Societe Generale (Stephen Gallagher and Omair Sharif)
- Jobs report shows “no additional pressure on the Fed to move beyond its indications of gradual rate hikes”
- “Evidence on labor market tightness abated in January”
Goldman Sachs (led by Jan Hatzius)
- Report “appears consistent with healthy economic growth, but only moderate pressure on labor resources”
- Reduces odds of a rate hike in March to 15% from 35%
- Maintains call for 3 rate increases this year, in June, September and December
CIBC (Avery Shenfeld, note)
- Only sore spot in jobs report was avg hourly earnings
- “Although the annual rate of wage inflation was likely to decelerate
a couple of ticks, the fall from the revised 2.8% to 2.5% will be seen
as a counterbalance to the stronger headline payroll number”
Janus Capital (Bill Gross)
- “Schizophrenic report” doesn’t alleviate skepticism about 3-4 percent growth promised by Trump administration
- “I think we’re stuck in a 2% real GDP world”
- While slow wage growth may be good for corporate profits, for
consumers, “if their money is only growing at 2.5%, that’s a slow-growth
economy”
...
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