Tenuous job market

September’s unemployment rate climbed to 9.8% as businesses fired an additional 263,000 people. This number far exceeded consensus economist estimates of 175,000.

This will certainly have a deep reverberation through the financial markets. The amount of the statistical “miss” will cause everyone to doubt their economic projections. That crisis in confidence will only be abated by the slow, steady churn of the economic machine as the recovery chugs along. Statistics are getting better steadily and slooooowly. That will take time. Until then expect everyone to go back and re-check their assumptions, forecasting methods, and conclusions about the economy.

I would honestly take any major market swoon as an opportunity to buy shares in any companies you feel you missed out on in the Spring. The fact remains that the economy is getting stronger. Not only that, but the foundations of the economy are more sound.

What we need is a more sound regulatory structure. We also need to hear a plan from the Obama Administration how it plans to delever the National Balance Sheet. That is, how it plans to reduce the National debt and to reduce the budget deficit. Those two things will go a long way to attracting investment dollars.

Have a good weekend!

Jason