Goldman raises estimate of September job losses
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Goldman Sachs economists helped feed the bears on Wall Street today after they boosted their estimate of net U.S. job losses in September.
The Goldman economics team, led by Jan Hatzius, said in a note to clients that they expected Friday’s employment report to show a net loss of 250,000 jobs, up from their previous estimate of 200,000.
The new figure is well above economists’ consensus estimate of 175,000, as tracked by Bloomberg News.
From Goldman:
The latest data points on the U.S. job market have been disappointing on balance, including the Monster index of on-line hiring, the ISM employment index [for the manufacturing sector], consumers’ assessments of job availability, and the total number of individuals receiving continuing claims for unemployment insurance, including those for extended benefits. Accordingly, we now expect nonfarm payrolls to be reported at -250,000 in tomorrow’s labor market report for September versus a previous forecast of -200,000.
The stock market was hit by heavy selling today on renewed jitters about the economy. Investors focused more on weakness in the September manufacturing report than on a surprising jump in consumer spending in August.
The Dow Jones industrials finished down 203 points, or 2.1%, to 9,509.28 -- the biggest drop since July 2.
-- Tom Petruno