The Jobs Report – March 2020

What you need to know…

1. Today’s payroll loss of 701,000 jobs breaks a run of positive growth for close to 9 1/2 years
2. Private payroll loss of 713,000 comes close to the low experienced in 2009 during the Great Financial Crisis
3. The unemployment rate jumped to 4.4% from a 50-year low of 3.5%
4. This report measures people on payroll for the week ending March 14th, before many shutdown and social distancing measures were put into place. Unfortunately, payroll loss numbers will increase in coming reports
5. Underlying the impossibility of predicting the economic fallout from COVID-19, the range of estimates from a Bloomberg Barclays survey of economists were from a job gain of +100,000 to a loss of -4 million! 

Below is a link to the full statistical summary provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics:*

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.b.htm

*The information contained herein has been prepared from sources believed to be reliable but is not guaranteed and is not a complete summary or statement of all available data nor is it considered an offer to buy or sell any securities referred to herein. Links included herein are to unaffiliated third party sites. The Firm cannot verify or guarantee the accuracy of any information presented therein. By clicking on these links, the reader understands and acknowledges they are leaving Ziegler Capital Management’s web page.