U.S. Employment Rises Sharply in March 2021

By Tom Burnett CFA On April 2, 2021, the Bureau of Labor Statistics issued a very positive report on the U.S. employment situation. The jobs number increased by 916,000 to bring employment up to 150.4 million workers. The unemployment rate declined from 6.2% in the prior month to 6.0%. Revisions to the…

By Tom Burnett CFA Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has made it clear, in many public statements, that the current Fed policy is based on accommodation. In fact, since the Fed responded to the Covid-19 outbreak in early 2020, the Federal Reserve balance sheet has grown from $4.3 trillion in total…

By Tom Burnett CFA On March 17, 2021, the Federal Reserve concluded its two-day March meeting with a series of announcements. Included in the public statement was a revised set of economic projections. The Fed now expects 2021 real GDP growth of 6.5%, up from an earlier projection of 4.3%. Inflation…

By Tom Burnett CFA Looking at the performance return data (March 9, 2021 issue of the Wall Street Journal) for the first ten weeks of this year, we see a clear pattern emerging. Investors are moving out of bonds and into select groups of equities, reversing many of the investment patterns of the last…

By Tom Burnett CFA   On March 5, 2021, the Bureau of Labor Statistics issued its Employment Report for the February month.  Job growth was very strong as total employment increased by 379,000 to 150.0 million.  The unemployment rate remained at 6.2% from the prior month.  The number of unemployed…