QE3 Chant Grows After Horrible Jobs Number

September 2, 2011 9:15 AM UTC
Bad, horrible, dreadful, embarrassing, sad.

Those are just some of the words people are using to describe Friday's nonfarm payroll report.

The U.S. added zero jobs in August, well short of the 68,000 jobs economist had expected. July was revised from a gain of 117,000 jobs to a gain of 85,000.

Private payrolls rose 17,000, versus the consensus of 95,000. Manufacturing payrolls were down 3,000, versus the consensus of flat. The unemployment rate was flat at 9.1%.

The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls edged down by 0.1 hour over the month to 34.2 hours. The average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls decreased by 3 cents, or 0.1 percent, to $23.09.

With the report, the call for the Federal Reserve to announce additional easing measures has grown.

Goldman Sachs' Jan Hatzius said the report furthers the case for QE3. "We now look for the FOMC to announce a lengthening in the average maturity of its balance sheet at the September 20-21 meeting."


Serious News for Serious Traders! Try StreetInsider.com Premium Free!

You May Also Be Interested In





Related Categories

Economic Data, Fed, Insiders' Blog, Trader Talk

Related Entities

Nonfarm Payrolls, Federal Open Market Committee, Layoffs, Earnings