Economy
- The September employment report showed that the U.S. economy added 263,000 jobs during the month, recording 21 consecutive months of job growth. Rising wages, plentiful job opportunities, and receding pandemic effects led to an uptick in the number of job-seekers. The unemployment rate dropped to 3.5% from 3.7%. Employment growth reaffirmed the continuation of the Federal Reserve’s aggressive interest-rate hike plans.
- The Fed is expected to continue hiking rates until inflation falls and the mismatch between too few workers and too many job openings eases up.
- The number of U.S. job openings (a measure of labor demand) plunged from 11.17 million in July to 10.05 million in August, according to the Department of Labor. The reduction in job openings signals the significant labor gab is beginning to narrow. The quits rate—which measures employees who leave jobs of their own accord and generally widens as the economy improves—increased to 4.16 million during the month, signaling worker confidence in finding new jobs.
Stocks
- U.S. equities were in positive territory. Energy and industrials were the top performers, while consumer staples and utilities lagged. Value stocks led growth stocks and small caps beat large caps.
- Global equities closed higher for the week. Emerging markets fared better than developed markets.
Bonds
- The 10-year Treasury bond yield increased to 3.88% during the week.
- Global bond markets were in negative territory this week.
- High yield bonds led, followed by global corporate bonds and global government bonds.
