Stock Market Update

The S&P 500 futures are up 18 points and are trading 0.3% above fair value, the Nasdaq 100 futures are up 122 points and are trading 0.6% above fair value, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are up 22 points and are trading 0.1% above fair value.

Initial jobless claims for the week ending November 2 increased by 3,000 to 221,000 (Briefing.com consensus 222,000). Continuing jobless claims for the week ending October 26 increased by 39,000 to 1.892 million. That is the highest since November 13, 2021.

The key takeaway from the report is essentially the same as last week. Layoff activity remains calm, but for employees who do get laid off it is more challenging to find a new job, which is a reality consistent with a softening labor market.

Nonfarm business sector labor productivity increased 2.2% in the third quarter (Briefing.com consensus 2.3%) following a downwardly revised 2.1% (from 2.5%) for the second quarter. Unit labor costs increased 1.9% (Briefing.com consensus 0.5%) following an upwardly revised 2.4% (from 0.4%) in the second quarter.

The key takeaway from the report is that productivity growth is helping to keep labor costs in check.

Treasury yields turned lower in response. The 10-yr yield was at 4.42% shortly before 8:30 ET, but sits at 4.39% now.