Stocks Up Ahead Of Today's Employment Report Stocks closed higher yesterday ahead of this morning's employment report. The S&P and Nasdaq both closed at new records yesterday. And it won't take much for all of the indexes to close up for the week. One of the key reports traders will be watching closely this morning is the Employment Situation Report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (or BLS). The consensus is calling for 740,000 new jobs (693K from the private sector and 47K from the public), while the unemployment rate is expected to tick down to 5.2% from 5.4%, and the participation rate is expected to tick up to 61.8% from 61.7%. In spite of the robust estimate, Wednesday's ADP Employment report (often seen as a precursor to the BLS report), came in surprisingly under their estimate at just 374K private sector jobs vs. expectations for 500K. While the ADP report has a spotty track record at predicting what the BLS report will show, those two figures are noticeably different. But the market didn't seem too concerned by the difference yesterday. And that's likely because with more jobs available than there are unemployed people to fill them, the jobs market should remain hot for quite some time, temporary blips here and there notwithstanding. Moreover, with the Fed reiterating their position to do whatever it takes to support the economy, which includes their mandate for maximum employment, that just further underscores the outlook for a strong jobs market far into the future. Speaking of the jobs market, yesterday's Weekly Jobless Claims showed new claims falling by a more than expected -10,000 to 340K. That was the best reading since March of last year, right before the pandemic lockdowns began. Jobs aren't the only thing on deck this morning as we'll also get the PMI Composite report, and the ISM Services Index.
But jobs are definitely the main event today. With today being the last trading day before the 3-day Labor Day Weekend, it could be a busy one. The market has been on fire with stocks trading at or near their all-time highs. And a solid jobs report could send stocks even higher. So make sure you're taking full advantage of it. Best,  Kevin Matras
Executive Vice President, Zacks Investment Research | 
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