Million Jobs Missing - Kuby's Commentary 05.10.2021

The employment report for April released on Friday indicated that there were 266,000 new jobs added, versus the approximately one million that were forecasted. Additionally, March's number was reduced by 246,000 jobs, suggesting that there are approximately one million less Americans with jobs than the consensus forecasted Thursday night. Following another week of earnings beats, the S&P 500 is now reporting an earnings growth rate for the first quarter of 49.4%, compared to an earnings growth rate of 45.8% last week and an earnings growth rate of 23.8% at the end of the first quarter (March 31). Positive earnings surprises reported by companies in multiple sectors (led by the Financials, Consumer Discretionary, and Health Care sectors) were responsible for the improvement in overall earnings for the index during the past week. The consumer is in focus on Friday with spending data from April as well as The University of Michigan Sentiment Index for May. Both of those readings were very strong last month.