Personal finance columnist John Waggoner explains why the unemployment number spells both good and bad news. (USA TODAY, USA NOW)
A shopper walks through the Manhattan Mall on May 1, 2014 in New York City. Consumer spending rose sharply in the month of March, despite a sluggish economy. (Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 488086827 ORIG FILE ID: 487634211(Photo: Andrew Burton Getty Images)
April's better-than-expected employment report should ease some fears for stock investors, and raise some eyebrows for bond investors.
The U.S. added 288,000 nonfarm jobs in April, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, far more than the 210,000 expected by economists. The unemployment rate fell to 6.3%.
More people employed means more spending -- something the anemic economy needs, and something that goes straight to corporate revenues. While the economy added plenty of low-paying jobs -- 35,000 in retail, for example -- it also added 32,000 well-paying construction jobs.
SPRING STUNNER: Jobs report blows past forecasts
For bond investors, the picture is more muted. As the economy improves, interest rates tend to rise. Bond prices fall when interest rates rise, and the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.678%.
One worry: Rising rates could choke off the housing market, which has increasingly struggled as the 10-year T-note approaches 3%. (Thirty-year fixed-rate mortgage rates tend to track the 10-year T-note yield.)
To keep the housing market humming, the nation needs strong jobs growth and firm housing prices, says John Lonski, team managing director of the economics group at Moody's Analytics. "Consumers remain unconvinced about the future adequacy of employment income and the durability of home prices," he writes in a recent note to clients.
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