Jobless Claims Fall to a Five-Year Low

Tomorrow is the big April jobs report but we got an important piece of data this morning. The government reported that first-time jobless claims fell to 324,000. That’s the lowest number since January 2008. Economists were expecting 345,000.

The consensus for tomorrow’s non-farm payroll is a gain of 145,000. We got a sneak preview yesterday when ADP, the private payroll firm, reported a gain of 119,000 jobs for April.

fredgraph05022013

The stock market is up cautiously today. The S&P 500 hit an intra-day high of 1,597.86 which is just above the high from Tuesday, which was also the close that day. Shares of AFLAC ($AFL) finally broke through $55 per share. Bed Bath & Beyond ($BBBY) is getting very close to hitting $70 per share. The home furnisher has had an impressive run. Two months ago, BBBY was below $57.

Yesterday, Ford ($F) reported an impressive 18% sales gain for April. The Fusion continues to be a big hit for them. The stock got as high as $13.78 yesterday although it pulled back late in the day.

Posted by on May 2nd, 2013 at 12:47 pm


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