Economic data released this week was solid, highlighted by this morning’s above consensus non-farm payrolls report, which came in at 943,000 compared to the Bloomberg consensus estimate of 870,000. The employment picture is holding its own despite concerns over the coronavirus delta variant, with the three-month moving average on payrolls increased to a robust 832,000, a lower unemployment rate of 5.4%, annualized average hourly earnings up by 4%, and the labor force participation rate increasing by a tenth to 61.7%. Earlier in the week both the ISM Manufacturing and ISM Services Indices were released, with the former coming in at 59.5, a modest slowdown from the prior month, and the latter surprising to the upside, coming in at 64.1 compared to the prior months 60.1 reading. Both ISM metrics remain comfortably in expansion territory and remain consistent with the domestic economic reopening theme despite the delta variant headwinds.
