Interesting non-response to yesterday’s jobs numbers

Yesterday saw the release of important job creation news by payroll giant ADP.  The strong news was obviously the source for the tremendous stock market rally yesterday.  Yet, even in the midst of the trading day yesterday CNN did not feature the story as its lead story, or even amongst its top 10 stories.  I consider this to be a very, very good sign.  For such important investment news to not register with a general news site like Cable News Network means that its editors didn’t think it was important enough to feature.  That means that folks in the United States are very likely starting to accept the jobs situation.  That means that their anxieties about the working environment are likely diminished, muted, and maybe even on the decline.

Of those three scenarios my feeling is that consumer anxiety about jobs is most likely muted.  Your average Jane and Joe have found a way to get by in their week to week lives and are stable in that situation.  From this place of relative stability they are much more likely to spend some more money.  And to me it looks like the first light at the end of the “game of chicken” tunnel may have appeared.  I am guessing that holiday sales will track ahead of last year’s sales.  In turn, that should lead to an uptick in consumer spending and gross domestic product.  Ultimately, that should lead to new hiring.

Jason