020 7898 0500On a day overshadowed by increasing fears of an imminent trade war between the US and China, some positive employment data for America slipped under the radar somewhat. Analysts had forecast an additional 208,000 workers would be hired by private businesses in March, but the actual figure smashed forecast by coming in at 241,000.
There was also a raft of PMI data released yesterday. Composite PMI fell to 54.2 in March from 55.8 the month before, while services dipped to 54 from 55.9 in February. Non-manufacturing PMI had been expected to fall from 59.5 to 59.0, but the figure was actually 58.8. Still, all figures point to continued growth and the readings are all strong.
Today’s main release is February’s balance of trade report and we will also see initial jobless claims for the week leading up to 31 March 2018. However, attention from around the world will likely be trained on the situation between the US and China and whether a potential crisis can be averted sooner rather than later.
