Employers in the U.S. added 161,000 non-farm jobs in October, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday. The unemployment rate ticked down to 4.9% from 5%. This marks the 73rd consecutive month of job growth.
Economists expected to see 178,000 jobs added and for the unemployment rate to tick down to 4.9%.
“Employment continued to trend up in health care, professional and business services, and financial activities,” the BLS said in its release, going on to explain that health care added 31,000 jobs last month. Over the past year, health care has added 415,000 jobs.
…
The bigger story within the report very well may be on the earnings front. The BLS reported that average hourly earnings for all employees on private non-farm payrolls rose by 10 cents to $25.92 in October. Over the past year, average hourly earnings have risen 2.8%. Economists point to this as reason to believe the U.S. labor market has reached full employment — and that the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates by 0.25% in December.
The larger-than-expected wage increase in October was helped by a 2 percent jump from September in hourly pay of utility workers, who scrambled to get power and telecommunications restored after Hurricane Matthew struck the southeastern U.S. The gain was the largest since November 2012, when there was a 2.5 percent surge in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy — a gain that partially reversed the following month.
Other gauges show pay gains rising. The Atlanta Fed’s Wage Growth Tracker indicates median pay rising an average 3.6 percent over the past three months, matching the fastest rate since January 2009. The Labor Department’s Employment Cost Index was up 2.3 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, matching the second-fastest pace of this expansion.
There were even jobs – of a sort – in Canada!
Part-time work has become the mainstay of job creation in Canada, a worrisome trend in the country’s labour market.
From September to October, part-time employment jumped by 67,000 spots and full-time fell by 23,000, according to Statistics Canada’s monthly labour report released on Friday.
Even though Canada gained a net 44,000 jobs last month, the number of hours worked declined because of the shift from full-time work to part-time.
… and the Society of Canadians for Trump has 63,000 new members!
Nowhere was this [lack of momentum in the economy] felt more than among men who are in their prime working age of between 25 and 54. This cohort has suffered a staggering loss of 63,000 full-time positions over the year, compared with a gain of 36,000 part-time spots.
… but the market focussed on the American election:
U.S. stocks posted their longest slide since 1980, while Treasuries rallied after data showing progress in the American labor market did little to soothe anxiety over the presidential election. Oil slumped.
The S&P 500 Index dropped for a ninth straight day, a gauge of equity volatility had the longest stretch of gains on record and Treasuries climbed the most since September ahead of next week’s vote. All the jitters sent the dollar down after a brief advance that followed data showing U.S. jobs rose at a steady pace in October, supporting a Federal Reserve hike next month. Oil sank as hopes faded that OPEC will be able to implement a deal to cut output.
| HIMIPref™ Preferred Indices These values reflect the December 2008 revision of the HIMIPref™ Indices Values are provisional and are finalized monthly |
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| Index | Mean Current Yield (at bid) |
Median YTW |
Median Average Trading Value |
Median Mod Dur (YTW) |
Issues | Day’s Perf. | Index Value |
| Ratchet | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | -0.1852 % | 1,710.3 |
| FixedFloater | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | -0.1852 % | 3,124.4 |
| Floater | 4.38 % | 4.54 % | 44,007 | 16.32 | 4 | -0.1852 % | 1,800.6 |
| OpRet | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | -0.1914 % | 2,900.3 |
| SplitShare | 4.83 % | 4.52 % | 42,262 | 2.06 | 6 | -0.1914 % | 3,463.6 |
| Interest-Bearing | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | -0.1914 % | 2,702.4 |
| Perpetual-Premium | 5.36 % | 4.72 % | 71,181 | 2.01 | 23 | -0.0003 % | 2,698.8 |
| Perpetual-Discount | 5.14 % | 5.13 % | 91,405 | 15.23 | 15 | 0.0523 % | 2,910.3 |
| FixedReset | 4.84 % | 4.23 % | 190,950 | 6.87 | 93 | -0.1885 % | 2,106.3 |
| Deemed-Retractible | 5.05 % | 3.94 % | 119,677 | 0.40 | 32 | -0.1175 % | 2,796.8 |
| FloatingReset | 2.85 % | 3.44 % | 46,483 | 4.93 | 12 | 0.0683 % | 2,294.9 |
| Performance Highlights | |||
| Issue | Index | Change | Notes |
| MFC.PR.F | FixedReset | -1.95 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2025-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 13.58 Bid-YTW : 10.72 % |
| IFC.PR.A | FixedReset | -1.89 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2025-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 15.61 Bid-YTW : 9.58 % |
| FTS.PR.K | FixedReset | -1.43 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2046-11-04 Maturity Price : 17.86 Evaluated at bid price : 17.86 Bid-YTW : 4.15 % |
| NA.PR.S | FixedReset | -1.30 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2046-11-04 Maturity Price : 18.92 Evaluated at bid price : 18.92 Bid-YTW : 4.29 % |
| IAG.PR.A | Deemed-Retractible | -1.16 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2025-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 23.03 Bid-YTW : 5.93 % |
| MFC.PR.N | FixedReset | -1.12 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2025-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 19.44 Bid-YTW : 7.09 % |
| GWO.PR.N | FixedReset | 1.07 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2025-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 14.19 Bid-YTW : 10.00 % |
| CU.PR.I | FixedReset | 1.07 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2020-12-01 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 26.30 Bid-YTW : 3.06 % |
| BAM.PR.R | FixedReset | 1.15 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2046-11-04 Maturity Price : 16.70 Evaluated at bid price : 16.70 Bid-YTW : 4.56 % |
| HSE.PR.A | FixedReset | 1.22 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2046-11-04 Maturity Price : 12.40 Evaluated at bid price : 12.40 Bid-YTW : 4.96 % |
| TRP.PR.G | FixedReset | 1.32 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2046-11-04 Maturity Price : 21.50 Evaluated at bid price : 21.50 Bid-YTW : 4.37 % |
| GWO.PR.S | Deemed-Retractible | 1.48 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2025-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.37 Bid-YTW : 5.14 % |
| TRP.PR.B | FixedReset | 1.58 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2046-11-04 Maturity Price : 12.20 Evaluated at bid price : 12.20 Bid-YTW : 4.19 % |
| SLF.PR.K | FloatingReset | 2.51 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2025-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 16.35 Bid-YTW : 8.67 % |
| Volume Highlights | |||
| Issue | Index | Shares Traded |
Notes |
| TRP.PR.F | FloatingReset | 109,176 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2046-11-04 Maturity Price : 14.31 Evaluated at bid price : 14.31 Bid-YTW : 4.23 % |
| NA.PR.X | FixedReset | 103,953 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2021-05-15 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 26.53 Bid-YTW : 4.09 % |
| BMO.PR.B | FixedReset | 91,061 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2022-02-25 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.79 Bid-YTW : 4.25 % |
| PWF.PR.K | Perpetual-Discount | 83,298 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2046-11-04 Maturity Price : 23.97 Evaluated at bid price : 24.22 Bid-YTW : 5.13 % |
| HSE.PR.A | FixedReset | 71,992 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2046-11-04 Maturity Price : 12.40 Evaluated at bid price : 12.40 Bid-YTW : 4.96 % |
| BAM.PR.T | FixedReset | 56,135 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2046-11-04 Maturity Price : 16.05 Evaluated at bid price : 16.05 Bid-YTW : 4.84 % |
| There were 36 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares. | |||
| Wide Spread Highlights | ||
| Issue | Index | Quote Data and Yield Notes |
| FTS.PR.M | FixedReset | Quote: 19.74 – 20.17 Spot Rate : 0.4300 Average : 0.2633 YTW SCENARIO |
| CU.PR.C | FixedReset | Quote: 19.09 – 19.45 Spot Rate : 0.3600 Average : 0.2165 YTW SCENARIO |
| IAG.PR.A | Deemed-Retractible | Quote: 23.03 – 23.58 Spot Rate : 0.5500 Average : 0.4129 YTW SCENARIO |
| CU.PR.F | Perpetual-Discount | Quote: 22.20 – 22.52 Spot Rate : 0.3200 Average : 0.2144 YTW SCENARIO |
| IFC.PR.A | FixedReset | Quote: 15.61 – 15.94 Spot Rate : 0.3300 Average : 0.2305 YTW SCENARIO |
| SLF.PR.G | FixedReset | Quote: 14.25 – 14.54 Spot Rate : 0.2900 Average : 0.2048 YTW SCENARIO |