I had to double check my screen when U.S. jobs data came out this morning. The U.S. economy added just 12,000 jobs in October. That’s well below the 100,000 that was expected and is the worst pace of job growth since December 2020. This is likely due to a lot of hurricane distortion and strike action at Boeing. Indeed, the unemployment rate held steady at 4.1 per cent.
Apple earnings are a bit of a let down this morning with the stock drifting lower in the pre-market. Apple grew sales six per cent this quarter, which was a bit better than expected,. Apple is calling for sales growth of just mid-single digits. This is below the seven per cent street forecast. But there were some positives in the quarter. Services revenue continues to grow at double digits. Chinese sales fell but not as much as before. iPhone revenues were also better.