'Devil is in the details' of jobs report, Charles Schwab strategist says
The positive employment report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics last month shows good news for the economy, but one investment strategist is delving into the details of the report and its potential impact on economy.
In a recent online article, Charles Schwab senior vice president and chief investment strategist Liz Ann Sonders says while the recent jobs report was positive across the board, "the devil is the details."
"The May employment report, put out by the Bureau of Labor Statistics this past Friday, made the cover of Saturday’s New York Post with a headline of 'We’re in the Money,'" Sonders writes in her piece. "I’m not sure that represents a classic contrarian signal, but it’s not a stretch to say that the labor market has become quite tight and that it represents one of many signs that the economic expansion is in its latter stage(s)."
In her article, Sonders also points to the labor force participation rate, which she says has been declining among prime-age men for decades, and most recently is partly due to the opioid crisis.
"Nearly half of prime age men who are not in the labor force take pain medication on any given day; and in nearly two-thirds of these cases, they take prescription pain medication," Sonders writes. "In fact, labor force participation has fallen more in U.S. counties where relatively more opioid pain medication is prescribed, causing the problem of depressed participate and the opioid crisis to become intertwined.”
She also states the data from the jobs report will bring to fruition the predicted four or more total rate hikes by the Federal Reserve this year.