In case you needed more proof that the stock market is completely detached from reality:
Lost Jobs for Americans = Higher stock market
The
S&P 500 rose on Friday as traders interpreted an
unexpected loss in jobs in July as meaning the Federal Reserve won't need to raise interest rates soon and can leave monetary policy on hold for now.
July's nonfarm payrolls report showed a drop of 23,000 jobs, while economists polled by Dow Jones had forecast a gain of 83,000. The unemployment rate fell to 4.1% as the labor force participation rate fell to its lowest level in more than five years. Economists had expected it to remain unchanged at 4.2%.
A majority of fed funds futures traders now expect that the central bank will hold its benchmark lending rate at the current 3.50% to 3.75% at the next policy meeting in September, according to the CME FedWatch tool. Just a day ago, traders were pricing in a 55% chance of a quarter-point hike.
"For the job market this is a number that's not booming and may actually be breaking, but for the markets the two biggest areas of concern were yields and inflation," Saira Malik, Nuveen chief investment officer, said on CNBC's "Squawk Box." "This lower number helps not reinforce the Fed's narrative that they need to raise interest rates."