Stocks Soared On Friday After Better Than Expected Jobs Report

Plus 5 New Strong Buys for Today Stocks Soared On Friday After Better Than Expected Jobs Report [Kevin Matras - EVP - Photo] Profit from the Pros By Kevin Matras Executive Vice President Stocks Soared On Friday After Better Than Expected Jobs Report [Stocks Soared On Friday After Better Than Expected Jobs Report]Image: Bigstock Stocks closed sharply higher on Friday after a better than expected jobs report. They were still down for the week following Wednesday's FOMC announcement and subsequent sell-off. But Friday's bullish price action after the employment report was a positive sign. Friday's much anticipated Employment Situation report didn't disappoint with a better than expected 261,000 new jobs created (233K in the private sector and 28K in the public) vs. the consensus for 210,000 (200K private and 10K public). The unemployment rate, however, ticked up to 3.7% vs. last month's 3.5% and views for 3.6%. And the participation rate slipped to 62.2% vs. last month's 62.3% and views for the same. The industries with the biggest jobs gains were: Health Care (+53,000 new jobs), Professional & Technical Services (+43,000), Leisure & Hospitality (+35,000), Manufacturing (+32,000), Social Assistance (+19,000), Wholesale Trade (+15,000), Transportation & Warehousing (+8,000), and Financial Activities (+3,000). Stocks traded both higher and lower throughout the day on Friday, before climbing steadily higher later in the afternoon to finish near their highs of the day. The strong jobs report shows the Fed's job won't be easy in knocking down inflation. The higher rates were supposed to cool down the economy, and thus inflation. But the strong labor market shows the economy hasn't slowed much. On the other hand, it also showed that the economy is quite resilient, and that the higher rates do not necessarily have to lead to a recession. Ultimately, traders on Friday saw the strong jobs report as a bigger positive than a negative and that was reflected in the day's gains. Stocks have been on a tear ever since they put in their key upside reversal day on October 13. And there's growing speculation that we may just very well have put in THE bottom. Add in a better than expected earnings season, multiyear low valuations, and the fact that Q4 is historically the best quarter for stocks, especially during midterm years, and there's plenty of reason to believe that this rally has a lot more upside to go. See you tomorrow, [Kevin Matras - Signature] Kevin Matras Executive Vice President, Zacks Investment Research Sponsor [New Battery "Could Eat Lithium's Lunch"]( [image]( Why do 5 billionaires believe that one tiny $4 company can take on Tesla? 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