INSTANT VIEW: Reaction to payroll data
WILLIAM SULLIVAN, CHIEF ECONOMIST, JVB FINANCIAL GROUP, BOCA
RATON, FLORIDA:
"The big news is the rise in unemployment claims to 404,000 which you must keep in mind because it's pointing to continued labor market weakness into the second half of the year.
"The report on the employment situation for June underscores the continued weakening in the overall economic environment. The big surprise was the maintenance of the nationwide unemployment rate at 5.5 percent. The unemployment rate took a huge jump in May, the largest monthly increase in 22 years, and there was the appearance of some statistical quirks that suggested there might be some rollback in June. That it held steady in June just underscores the poor labor market conditions as the second quarter came to the close.
"Another interesting development is the evidence of deterioration in service sector payrolls. We know we've been processing sharp declines in goods producing payrolls. It now looks like the service establishments have stopped hiring as well. We've turned very soft here in terms of hiring conditions overall, not just in the goods-producing sector."
CARL LANTZ, U.S. INTEREST RATE STRATEGIST, CREDIT SUISSE, NEW
YORK:
"They are all weak. There was 52,000 net revisions to the prior two months so minus 62,000 is kind of more like minus 114,000. Jobless claims were very elevated above 400,000.
"Trichet is on the tape right now being hawkish so the bond market is kind of getting pulled in both directions. Continued...



