There's No Jobs Report Today, But There's Something Almost As Useful
Normally today would be a Jobs Day.
The monthly Non-Farm Payrolls report is regularly scheduled for the first Friday of each month, but thanks to the government shutdown in October (which delayed last month's jobs report) this month's report is getting pushed back a week.
But that's okay, there's still some interesting data coming out today: Monthly motor vehicle sales.
Per Calculated Risk, monthly motor vehicle sales for October are expected to come in at 15.4 million (annualized) vs. 15.2 million (annualized) for September.
Why is this number interesting to us? Because there's not surprisingly a correlation between auto sales and employment.
This chart shows monthly auto sales adjusted for population (red line) vs. the unemployment rate (blue line). It's not perfect, but for the last couple decades, there's a pretty steady relationship between the two. If auto sales come in strong this month, it will be a good sign that employment is going in the right direction.
FRED
- I spent $2,000 for 7 nights in a 179-square-foot room on one of the world's largest cruise ships. Take a look inside my cabin.
- Saudi Arabia wants China to help fund its struggling $500 billion Neom megaproject. Investors may not be too excited.
- Colon cancer rates are rising in young people. If you have two symptoms you should get a colonoscopy, a GI oncologist says.
- Markets extend gains for 5th session; Sensex revisits 74k
- Top 10 tourist places to visit in Darjeeling in 2024
- India's forex reserves sufficient to cover 11 months of projected imports
- ITC plans to open more hotels overseas: CMD Sanjiv Puri
- 7 Indian dishes that are extremely rich in calcium