The silver lining to bad employment news

A pattern is emerging in the US. Each time ever-worse employment figures are announced, the Fed 'stimulates' the economy. And that leads to a stock market rally.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is the government department that keeps track of the unemployment rates in the United States. On the first Friday of every month, the BLS releases its report. This report generates more reaction in the stock, currency, and bond markets than any other regular economic report. It's because unemployment is such a political issue. The market knows this report directly influences the Fed's policy...

On Friday [5 December], the BLS published its report for November. It showed the sixth-largest monthly increase in unemployment since the BLS began keeping records in 1929. The United States lost 533,000 jobs, and the unemployment rate rose from 6.5% to 6.7%.

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