$WLD
🚨 The January jobs report just dropped and it’s VERY strong 🚨
- Nonfarm payrolls: 130,000 (vs 55,000 expected)
- Unemployment rate: 4.3% (vs 4.4% expected)
That’s a HUGE upside surprise.
Ironically, Navarro had been lowering expectations warning that the labor market would look weak. Instead, we got the opposite.
The key takeaway is that the US labor market is still holding up.
But here’s the twist:
Strong labor data can be bad for risk assets.
Why?
Because a strong labor market reduces the urgency for the Fed to cut rates.
If job growth is solid and unemployment is falling, the Fed has less reason to ease financial conditions.
Stronger labor market = Fewer rate cuts = Tighter liquidity = Less fuel for risk assets
Today’s report just pushed rate-cut expectations further out 👀