It’s Jobs Friday as the Labor Department provided the latest update on the state of the labor markets. The U.S. economy created 227,000 new jobs in January, which was well above the consensus range of 174,000 – 197,000. What’s interesting here is this is the first Jobs report for the Trump Presidency as the reporting period included the first 11 days of the new administration.

The takeaway here is 8 years into the current economic expansion, job growth continues to hum along. Recall that the average job growth since the Great Recession ended has been in the vicinity of 200K per month.

The unemployment rate rose to 4.8% from 4.7% while the U6 rate (aka the “real” unemployment rate) was reported at 9.4%. The unemployment rate upticked due to the fact that more people are looking for work. Reports indicate that job openings are at record highs, which entices more folks to seek jobs.

The private sector was the primary driver of growth with corporate America adding 237,000 jobs in January.

As far as wages go, Average Hourly Earnings gained 0.1% to $26.00 per hour and over the last 12 months wages are up 2.5%. However, January’s year-over-year gains are down from December’s 2.8% level. Note that annual wage gains have averaged about 2.0% during the economic recovery that began in 2009.

Traders appear to be encouraged by the report and stocks are poised to move higher at the open. However, unless the bulls really find a reason to celebrate, the major indices are likely to remain trapped in the recent trading range.

Current Market Drivers

We strive to identify the driving forces behind the market action on a daily basis. The thinking is that if we can both identify and understand why stocks are doing what they are doing on a short-term basis; we are not likely to be surprised/blind-sided by a big move. Listed below are what we believe to be the driving forces of the current market (Listed in order of importance).