By Staff Reporters
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Compensation pay for US workers picked up in the first three months of the year, showing that a major source of inflationary pressure persists and cementing the path for an interest rate hike at the Federal Reserve’s meeting next week. The Employment Cost Index, released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, showed that workers were paid 1.2% more in wages and benefits in the first quarter from the prior three-month period. That’s up from analysts’ expectations of 1.1%.
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- Markets: Stocks rose yesterday, finishing strong to give the Dow its best month since January. But First Republic Bank tanked again as rumors flew about its fate, again.
- Economy: For all the Fed watchers, new data released makes it look like another rate hike could be in store next week. The data shows wages are still trending upward, and one of the Fed’s favorite inflation measures rose slightly last month.
Here’s where markets ended.
- The S&P 500 Index was up 34.13 (0.8%) at 4169.48, a nearly three-month high; the Dow Jones industrial average was up 272.00 (0.8%) at 34,098.16; the NASDAQ Composite was up 84.35 (0.7%) at (12,226.58.
- The 10-year Treasury yield was down about 9 basis points at 3.437%.
- CBOE’s Volatility Index was down 1.27 at 15.76.
Energy companies were among the strongest sectors today with help from a rally in crude oil futures. Transportation and financial stocks were also strong. Utilities and consumer discretionary sectors were among the weakest sectors.
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Filed under: "Ask-an-Advisor", Alerts Sign-Up, Financial Planning, Health Insurance, Investing, Risk Management | Tagged: CBOE, DJIA, DOW, ECI, employment cost index, Federal Reserve, FOMC, gold, NASDAQ, oil, pay, pay trends, S&P 500, salary, VIX, worker compensation |
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