John Hancock: Weekly Market Recap Week Ended March 4th

Labor market strength

The U.S. economy generated the strongest job growth in seven months, beating most economists’ expectations with 678,000 jobs added in February. The unemployment rate fell to 3.8%—the lowest level since the pandemic began—ahead of a mid-March U.S. Federal Reserve meeting at which policymakers are expected to begin lifting interest rates.

Bouncing around

While U.S. stock indexes retreated, their declines weren’t nearly as sharp as those in Europe, where Russia expanded its invasion of Ukraine and energy prices surged. The S&P 500 and Dow fell more than 1%, the NASDAQ dropped nearly 3%, and indexes of some European countries declined more than 10%.

European inflation

Inflation in the European Union isn’t as high as the 7.5% annual rate in the United States, but it’s not far behind. The EU reported that its consumer prices were 5.8% higher in February than a year earlier, marking the fourth consecutive month in which inflation climbed to a record high for Europe.

Earnings scorecard

Companies in the S&P 500 recorded an average earnings gain of 31% over the same quarter a year earlier, according to FactSet data from the recently concluded earnings season. That result marked the fourth consecutive quarter of growth exceeding 30%. Industrials was the strongest among all 11 sectors, with earnings growth of 94%.

Source: https://wmr.jhinvestments.com/