There is no doubt that the recent jobs data has been absolutely blistering. On January 4, weekly jobless claims plunged by 15,000 to 372,000, well below the 400,000 that is required for a sustainable recovery. The next day, the ADP report delivered a gob smacking 325,000 in job gains for December. Then the big kahuna surprised to the upside, the December non-farm payroll, reporting 200,000 new jobs, taking the unemployment rate to a three year low at 8.5%.
Are happy days here again? Is it off to the races? More importantly, should we be adding risk positions here in expectation of a continued economic miracle?
I think not. You all know well that I am a history buff. But I know enough about history to understand that it can be a dangerous thing. Don?t let these numbers lull you into a false sense of security. Any slavish reliance on the past can cause you to become history, if you?re not careful.
There is no doubt that a seasonal surge in hiring caused by the holidays has created this spike. Normally, governments and agencies smooth these figures through a seasonal adjustment process. The problem arises when the structure of the economy is changing faster than can be reflected in these seasonal adjustments, as it is now.
A large part of our economy is moving online more rapidly than most people realize. According to comScore, a marketing data research firm, online sales leapt by 15% to $35.3 billion during the November-December holiday period, an all-time high.? I speak from a position of authority here as I happen to run one of the most successful financial sites on the Internet, which I kicked off four years ago with a $500 investment.
Much of this migration is being captured by Fedex and UPS, the nexus at which Internet commerce meets the real world. After all, virtual products require a real world delivery. This explains why the couriers are seeing a booming business in an otherwise flat economy. Fedex hired 10,000 temporary workers to deal with the Christmas surge in 2011, a gain of 18% over the same period last year. UPS added a stunning 55,000, a 10% increase.
Watch for the other shoe to drop. That will become apparent when that the newly hired become the newly fired, leading to a sudden and rapid deterioration of the jobs data. This could be the information the stock market and other risk assets need to put in a top for the year. The scary part is that this may happen sooner than you think.
Yup, I Just Got My Pink Slip Too
