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Weak Payrolls Is Worst Case for US Stocks, JPMorgan Traders Say

(Bloomberg) -- The US payrolls figures due later on Friday need to be just right — not too hot, and not too cold — for US stocks to keep rising, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. Market Intelligence.Most Read from BloombergCitadel to Leave Namesake Chicago Tower as Employees RelocateNice Airport, If You Can Get to It: No Subway, No Highway, No BridgeNYC Sees Pedestrian Traffic Increase in Congestion-Pricing ZoneHow London’s Taxi Drivers Navigate the City Without GPSTransportation Memos Favor Pla

Trump inherits a labor market at full employment. Can he keep it there?

Defying fears of a pandemic-driven Great Depression and bucking Federal Reserve interest rate hikes as well, the U.S. job market has hit what U.S. central bank officials are characterizing as a moment of stable full employment, with balanced wage and job growth and a low unemployment rate. As the job market signaled growing weakness last year and the unemployment rate rose, "the question was, are we going to settle in at full employment, or crash through" to yet higher joblessness, as has typically been the case when the unemployment rate rises, Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said on Thursday.

Proto Labs’s (NYSE:PRLB) Q4 Sales Beat Estimates But Stock Drops

Manufacturing services provider Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB) reported Q4 CY2024 results beating Wall Street’s revenue expectations, but sales fell by 2.6% year on year to $121.8 million. On the other hand, next quarter’s revenue guidance of $124 million was less impressive, coming in 1.1% below analysts’ estimates. Its non-GAAP profit of $0.38 per share was 18.8% above analysts’ consensus estimates.

The markets left reeling from Trump's tariff threats

U.S. President Donald Trump's ability to swiftly impose, and then delay, tariffs on top trading partners has left world markets swinging one way and then another. Last weekend, for example, he announced sweeping tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, and then on Monday he announced one-month delays for Canada and Mexico.