Anthony Chan Takes Quotations

The rise in the unemployment rate takes much of the sting away from the robust gain in payrolls from a monetary policy perspective. The big fear ahead of the release of this report was that labor markets were overheating.

This confidence is encouraging and takes some of the pressure off the terrible number we saw with retail sales.

This gives the Fed license to continue executing monetary policy. If they see any signs of slow growth in employment, industrial production, or retail sales, they certainly have the green light to make another cut. They have total flexibility to do whatever it takes to prevent a recession.

It provides more ammunition for the doves arguing for more moderation, and takes leverage away from the hawks arguing for (a bigger, half-percentage point) hike.

There's a very good likelihood we'll see the sector come back as rebuilding takes place and the economy starts to react to the huge stimulus in the pipeline.