U.S. hiring picked up in June while wage gains disappointed yet again, a mix that may continue to be a puzzle for the economy and policy makers, Labor Department figures showed Friday.
Highlights of Employment (June)
•Payrolls rose 222k (est. 178k); April-May revisions added 47k jobs
•Unemployment rate, derived from a separate survey of households, rose to 4.4% (est. 4.3%) from 16-year low of 4.3%
•Average hourly earnings rose by 0.2% m/m (est. 0.3% rise); up 2.5% y/y (est. 2.6%)
… but there are worries about wages:
While payrolls grew by more than analysts forecast and the unemployment rate barely ticked up from a 16-year low, worker pay rose a less-than-expected 2.5 percent in June from a year earlier. Separate figures on labor flows showed a record number of people found employment after joining the workforce, helping push up the participation rate.
The entry of so many people is a sign that the labor market is still absorbing slack, supporting the views of both President Donald Trump — who has talked about the need to get millions of Americans into jobs — and Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, who has mentioned the pool of those who could still find work.
That could help explain part of the puzzle of why hiring has shown sustained strength at the same time that worker pay has been relatively weak. One hope is that a tight labor market will eventually result in an acceleration in wages, but with more people getting into the labor force, that threshold may still be some ways away.
Canada added more than four times the number of jobs economists had expected in June, capping the best quarter since 2010 and solidifying the view the Bank of Canada will raise interest rates at its meeting next week.
The 45,300 gain was the seventh in a row, taking the jobless rate to 6.5 percent from 6.6 percent, Statistics Canada reported Friday from Ottawa. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg projected a 10,000 job increase, with the highest prediction at 21,400, and no change in the unemployment rate.
Faster employment growth adds to evidence of a broadening economic recovery. Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz has touted the improvement in recent weeks and signaled it may be time to raise interest rates from extraordinarily low levels.
| 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 | -0.3866 % | 2,304.5 |
| FixedFloater | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | -0.3866 % | 4,228.6 |
| Floater | 3.44 % | 3.45 % | 80,187 | 18.66 | 3 | -0.3866 % | 2,437.0 |
| OpRet | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | -0.0312 % | 3,069.7 |
| SplitShare | 4.69 % | 4.25 % | 60,414 | 1.45 | 5 | -0.0312 % | 3,665.9 |
| Interest-Bearing | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | -0.0312 % | 2,860.3 |
| Perpetual-Premium | 5.35 % | 4.30 % | 72,745 | 0.09 | 21 | -0.0056 % | 2,786.0 |
| Perpetual-Discount | 5.22 % | 5.19 % | 85,814 | 15.19 | 15 | -0.4519 % | 2,961.1 |
| FixedReset | 4.35 % | 4.30 % | 190,591 | 6.43 | 97 | 0.1592 % | 2,387.9 |
| Deemed-Retractible | 5.02 % | 5.24 % | 116,888 | 6.19 | 30 | -0.1779 % | 2,884.1 |
| FloatingReset | 2.65 % | 3.03 % | 49,272 | 4.32 | 10 | 0.1969 % | 2,597.4 |
| Performance Highlights | |||
| Issue | Index | Change | Notes |
| IAG.PR.A | Deemed-Retractible | -1.44 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2025-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 22.52 Bid-YTW : 6.32 % |
| BAM.PF.C | Perpetual-Discount | -1.33 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2047-07-07 Maturity Price : 21.99 Evaluated at bid price : 22.32 Bid-YTW : 5.46 % |
| TD.PF.H | FixedReset | -1.31 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2021-10-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.70 Bid-YTW : 4.08 % |
| BAM.PR.N | Perpetual-Discount | -1.04 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2047-07-07 Maturity Price : 21.63 Evaluated at bid price : 21.88 Bid-YTW : 5.46 % |
| MFC.PR.H | FixedReset | 1.05 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2025-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.03 Bid-YTW : 4.61 % |
| IFC.PR.C | FixedReset | 1.08 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2025-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 22.50 Bid-YTW : 5.31 % |
| SLF.PR.G | FixedReset | 1.17 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2025-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 17.31 Bid-YTW : 8.16 % |
| TRP.PR.B | FixedReset | 1.27 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2047-07-07 Maturity Price : 15.20 Evaluated at bid price : 15.20 Bid-YTW : 4.36 % |
| Volume Highlights | |||
| Issue | Index | Shares Traded |
Notes |
| RY.PR.C | Deemed-Retractible | 149,990 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2017-08-06 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.26 Bid-YTW : -1.30 % |
| BAM.PR.R | FixedReset | 101,670 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2047-07-07 Maturity Price : 19.95 Evaluated at bid price : 19.95 Bid-YTW : 4.53 % |
| BAM.PF.C | Perpetual-Discount | 94,320 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2047-07-07 Maturity Price : 21.99 Evaluated at bid price : 22.32 Bid-YTW : 5.46 % |
| W.PR.M | FixedReset | 83,700 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2021-10-15 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 26.06 Bid-YTW : 4.11 % |
| TRP.PR.A | FixedReset | 74,600 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2047-07-07 Maturity Price : 19.45 Evaluated at bid price : 19.45 Bid-YTW : 4.33 % |
| NA.PR.W | FixedReset | 71,900 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2047-07-07 Maturity Price : 21.45 Evaluated at bid price : 21.45 Bid-YTW : 4.33 % |
| There were 35 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares. | |||
| Wide Spread Highlights | ||
| Issue | Index | Quote Data and Yield Notes |
| TRP.PR.A | FixedReset | Quote: 19.45 – 19.87 Spot Rate : 0.4200 Average : 0.2551 YTW SCENARIO |
| TD.PF.H | FixedReset | Quote: 25.70 – 26.09 Spot Rate : 0.3900 Average : 0.2293 YTW SCENARIO |
| MFC.PR.L | FixedReset | Quote: 21.11 – 21.52 Spot Rate : 0.4100 Average : 0.2705 YTW SCENARIO |
| MFC.PR.I | FixedReset | Quote: 23.99 – 24.22 Spot Rate : 0.2300 Average : 0.1343 YTW SCENARIO |
| PWF.PR.T | FixedReset | Quote: 22.90 – 23.22 Spot Rate : 0.3200 Average : 0.2351 YTW SCENARIO |
| TRP.PR.E | FixedReset | Quote: 22.55 – 22.75 Spot Rate : 0.2000 Average : 0.1292 YTW SCENARIO |