10/2/09

Good morning. Yesterday we had some decent economic news. Pending Home Sales were up in August, and are at their highest level since early 2007. We also had Construction Spending increase in August, which balanced out a revision to the July numbers.
Today was the “big daddy” unemployment numbers that always make it into the headlines Saturday morning. Estimates heading into today had job losses pegged at 175-200,000 for September with the Unemployment Rate hitting 9.8%. “Weak but improving” was the term some economist were using for the job market – until this morning. U.S. employers cut 263,000 jobs in September, pushing the unemployment rate to 9.8%. 9.8% is the highest rate since mid-1983 and payrolls had now dropped for 21 consecutive months. After the number stocks are getting hit again and mortgage prices have improved. Have a GREAT weekend!