The private sector accelerated its hiring in February while providing robust wage gains. Private employers added 140,000 jobs last month, narrowly missing expectations of 150,000 but accelerating from January\u2019s 111,000. Employment increases were broad across sectors with leisure and hospitality leading with 41,000 additions. The construction sector added 28,000 positions while trade, transportation and utilities gained 24,000. Meanwhile, financial activities gained 17,000 and the other services category and the education and health services segment added at more tempered rates of 14,000 and 11,000, respectively. Trailing were the manufacturing category and professional and business services segment which both added below 10,000 workers while the resources and mining category and information sector shed 4,000 and 2,000, respectively. Across company sizes, headcount growth was dominated by mid- (50-499 employees) and large-sized (500+ employees) businesses as the segments added 69,000 and 61,000, respectively, while small businesses (1-49 employees) added just 13,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Larger paychecks continued to be required to incentivize workers to swap companies, with job leavers widening their pay growth gap relative to their job-staying counterparts. Indeed, wage bumps accelerated for job changers, as the segment sported a 7.6% year-over-year (y\/y) growth rate relative to January\u2019s 7.2%. Compensation increases for job stayers decelerated to its slowest pace since August 2021, meanwhile, descending from a 5.3% y\/y clip to 5.1% during the period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Job openings declined slightly at the start of the year as labor conditions loosened marginally. January job openings slipped to 8.863 million, slightly below estimates of 8.9 million. January\u2019s figure was just 26,000 above December\u2019s 8.889 million job openings but still roughly 2 million above the pre-pandemic level. Job quits, released in the same JOLTS report from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, also reflected softer labor conditions. Workers quit their jobs at a slower rate during the period, from 3.439 million job resignations in December to 3.385 million in January, indicating workers\u2019 lower confidence in their ability to replace their employers. The job quits trend has been consistent with rising continuing unemployment claims, which have reclaimed the pivotal 1.9 million level. Tomorrow\u2019s unemployment claims report will provide a timely update of these trends as real-time job vacancy data continues to point to modest downward shifts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As consumers rein in spending, retailers\u2019 inventory management, social media marketing and the ability to profitably provide bargains have become increasingly important. Separately, the tech sector continues to experience earnings growth in some pockets as illustrated by CrowdStrike. Those trends were demonstrated by the following examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Markets are breathing a sigh of relief as Powell alludes to the current fed funds rate being at peak. All major US equity indices are up with the Russell 2000, Nasdaq Composite, S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial indices having gained 0.8%, 0.7%, 0.7% and 0.4%. Sectoral breadth is terrific with all segments higher as energy, utilities and technology lead: they\u2019re up 1.1%, 1.1% and 1%. Energy is leading as oil traders bid up the commodity in response to stronger Fed easing expectations and Riyadh\u2019s raising the prices at which they sell oil to Asian countries. WTI crude oil is up a sharp 2.9%, or $2.26, to $80.35 a barrel. In fixed-income land, bonds are catching a bid and are being led by the long-end. The 2- and 10-year Treasury maturities are trading at 4.55% and 4.11%, 1 and 4 basis points (bps) lower on the session. The dollar is a lot lower as currency traders cheer \u201cpeak fed funds\u201d with its index down 41 bps to 103.34. The US currency is down relative to all of its major developed market counterparts, including the euro, pound sterling, franc, yen, yuan and Aussie and Canadian dollars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While Powell didn\u2019t commit to interest rate reductions in the near future, his positivity concerning the trajectory of inflation amidst confidence that the central bank\u2019s current rate is likely at its peak is enough for market participants. His statements concerning a likely rate cut by the end of the year also helped investor sentiment, as they roughly align with the market\u2019s projections for a few rate cuts by year-end. Further clarity will be provided as Powell\u2019s testimony continues throughout tomorrow. This Friday\u2019s nonfarm payrolls and this Tuesday\u2019s Consumer Price Index will also provide significant information. Perhaps most importantly, however, will be the Fed\u2019s update to its Summary of Economic Projections (dots) exactly two weeks from today. Dots that point to one or two cuts rather than the three the market is anticipating may surprise folks, with incoming data likely to move the needle following hot January data. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"JOB](\"\/campus\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/03\/Picture2-4.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nWorkers Get a Raise<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Government Data Depicts Tight Job Market<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"job](\"\/campus\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/03\/Picture1-4.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nInventory Management Increasingly Important<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Markets Rally on Easing Fears of Another Fed Funds Hike<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Hot January and February Data May Shift the \u201cDots\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n