Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Less jobs should mean lower rates - where are they?

The job markets took a hit this morning after it was reported that private employers created less jobs than expected in May. The ADP Private Employment Report showed that there were 135,000 jobs created last month, below the 157,000 that was expected. Although the 135,000 was above April's number of 113,000, it was still a disappointment.
The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) reported this morning that its ISM Service Index inched up to 53.7 in May from the 53.1 registered in April and above the 53.5 expected. Within the report it showed that the employment component barely remained positive at 50.1 falling 1.9% from the previous month. Readings above 50 indicate expansion. It is said that the service sector makes up 2/3s of the U.S. economic activity.
The U.S. Treasury reported today that it will be selling 30 million shares of General Motors (GM) that is just part of the shares that it received when the government bailed out the auto maker. The Treasury currently holds 241.6 million shares and intends to unload all of the shares by March 2014. It doesn't look like there will be a profit - so far the government has recouped $30.7 billion of the nearly $50 billion in funds it gave to GM. The current share price is $34 and to turn a profit, the price would have to be at $50 just to break even.

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