Below is a chart and brief excerpt from today’s Market Situation Report written by Tier 1 Alpha. If you’re interested in learning more about the Hedgeye-Tier 1 Alpha partnership, there’s more information here.

Wall Street hoped for a poor JOLTS number yesterday, where strangely, bad might be seen as good as it provides relief from the Fed's onslaught. This odd sentiment suggests that a single data point could hypothetically sway the Fed's policy direction. We jest, of course, but this narrative would've played out if poor job data spurred a market rally. Instead, strong data came in and the market maintained its downward momentum from Monday.

Old Wall Narratives Jilted by JOLTS - msr1

The BLS revealed that job openings rose to 9.6 million at the end of August. Hires and total separations remained stable at 5.9 million and 5.7 million, respectively. Quits remained at 3.6 million while layoffs and discharges were steady at 1.7 million. A significant 690,000 job openings were introduced, with 509,000 in professional and business services and 96,000 in finance. Healthcare and social assistance roles saw a 7% surge, while real estate and leasing dipped from 7% in June to 5.7% in August.

We've previously voiced concerns about the BLS's data reliability. We'll share the BLS's job opening methodology, highlighting how one position can be listed multiple times and potentially be overcounted. Also, remember the methodology assumes those not responding to the survey behave in the same manner as those who did. This might explain the August data's skew and the monthly NFP data revisions.

Old Wall Narratives Jilted by JOLTS - msr2

Learn more about the Market Situation Report written by Tier 1 Alpha.

Old Wall Narratives Jilted by JOLTS - HISbanner

Old Wall Narratives Jilted by JOLTS - marketsituation