Confidence & Business Activity Both Up, Jobs Mixed

Wells Fargo Research Team Wells Fargo

U.S. Review

Confidence & Business Activity Both Up, Jobs Mixed

The November jobs report was a mixed bag. The 178,000 increase was a shade weaker than expectations even as October's increase was revised lower by about 20,000 jobs. The unemployment rate fell to a cycle low of 4.6 percent but it came amidst another decline in participation.
Jumping more than six points, consumer confidence rose to a fresh cycle high in November. Consumers reported feeling better about both their present and future situations.
The ISM manufacturing index rose to 53.2 in November with production and new orders up over the month.

Global Review

Mixed Results On Global Economic Activity

The week started with mixed results on global economic activity. On the positive side, the Chinese manufacturing sector saw a slight improvement in November when the manufacturing PMI increased to 51.7 from 51.2 in October as analysts were expecting a slight deterioration of the index.
In Europe, the U.K. manufacturing sector seems to have weakened a bit further, looking at the November manufacturing PMI print, going from 54.2 in October to 53.4 in November.

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Wells Fargo Research Team

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