Jobs Report Disappoints

The jobs report created quite a stir this morning, as the Labor Department showed only 88,000 jobs added in March.  That was well shy of the targeted 192,000 that investors were looking for.  Stock indexes all dropped 1% or more at the open, andmortgage bonds moved up solidly.  The Unemployment rate headline number dropped to 7.6%, which is the lowest figure since December 2008.  However, the Labor Participation Rate dropped to 63.3%, and that indicates that approximately 500,000 have left the workforce.  A look deeper into this aspect shows that a high percentage of those people are 35 and younger.  Investors must be wondering about the overall environment with Europe, North Korea, and this last week of disappointing jobs figures as lurking dark clouds threatening to spoil the picnic of all time highs.  We will suggest locking short term transactions due to the significant run up bonds have had in the last few weeks.