(As of 7:15 am PST)
US stocks opened slightly
higher Thursday as investors sifted through a full data calendar while keeping
an eye on the lingering uncertainty in Greece. According to the Labor
Department’s non-farm payrolls report released early this morning, the U.S.
private sector added 223,000 jobs in June, in line with expectations. April and
May jobs numbers were reduced but still remained well above the 200,000 mark.
The unemployment rate fell to 5.3% from 5.5%, the lowest level since 2008. On the
surface, the jobless rate appears strong however, the decrease was a result of 432,000 people leaving the labor force entirely. In fact, the percentage
of Americans in the labor force fell to its lowest level in 38 years. All in
all, the report suggests enough strength to keep the Federal Reserve on its path
to raise short term interest rates in the fall. There’s enough weak areas,
however, that could cause the Fed to wait until its December meeting. In
overseas action, Asian markets finished the day mixed with the Shanghai
index falling another 3%. European stocks swung between gains and losses most
of the day as investors remained uncertain about negotiations between Greece
and its creditors. Gold is down slightly while oil is taking back some of
yesterday’s losses. Today’s session will wrap up a holiday shortened week for
US trading, with the three major benchmarks on pace for weekly losses.
Have a fun and safe weekend! We'll see you back on Monday.
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