Stocks Up For The Week, Markets Cheer Better Than Expected Jobs Report

Plus 5 New Strong Buys for Today Stocks Up For The Week, Markets Cheer Better Than Expected Jobs Report [Kevin Matras - EVP - Photo] Profit from the Pros By Kevin Matras Executive Vice President Stocks Up For The Week, Markets Cheer Better Than Expected Jobs Report [Stocks Up For The Week, Markets Cheer Better Than Expected Jobs Report]Image: Shutterstock Stocks closed mostly higher on Friday with the Nasdaq up 1.58% and the S&P up 0.52%. The Dow, after trading higher most of the afternoon, ended lower at the close by -0.06%. But they all finished higher for the week, making it 2 up weeks in a row. Friday's Employment Situation report wowed the market with a much larger than expected gain. The consensus was calling for 150,000 new jobs for January (150K in the private sector and 0 in the public). Instead, we got 467,000 (444K in the private sector and 23K in the public). The unemployment rate ticked a bit higher from 3.9% to 4.0%, while the participation rate rose from 61.9% to 62.2%. But the headline number was a stunner, given that the White House braced everybody on Tuesday that we could possibly see job losses in Friday's report due to Omicron. That warning became more real on Wednesday when the ADP Employment report showed a loss of -301,000 jobs in January. So Friday's big gain was truly a surprise, and traders cheered the news. Leisure and Hospitality was the biggest jobs producer with 151,000 new jobs in January; Professional and Business Services added 86,000; Retail Trade was up 61,000; Transportation and Warehousing gained 54,000; Education (local government education) rose by 29,000; Health Care was up 18,000; and Wholesale Trade added 16,000 new jobs. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) did their annual benchmarking, and that likely had a positive impact on January's numbers, not to mention boosted 2021's tally by 217,000 jobs. Nonetheless, this was yet another report that shows just how strong the economy is and just how tight the labor market is. All bullish indicators that point to another year of robust growth. Earnings season continues this week with another 936 companies set to report. We've had plenty of high-profile beats last week, and a few high-profile misses. But overall, it's been a stellar earnings season so far. And given how strong Q4 was for GDP (up 6.9% vs. expectations for 5.7%), I'm expecting the rest of earnings season to be just as strong. And since stocks typically go up during earnings season, it looks like we could see a lot more upside to go. So make sure you're taking full advantage of it. See you tomorrow, [Kevin Matras - Signature] Kevin Matras Executive Vice President, Zacks Investment Research ["Why Haven't You Looked at Zacks' Top Stocks?]( Our 5 best-performing strategies have blown away the S&P's impressive +28.8% gain in 2021. Amazingly, they soared +40.3%, +48.2%, +67.6%, +94.4%, and +95.3%. Today you can access their live picks without cost or obligation. 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