1. **ADP Employment Report:** October's ADP employment figures, released Wednesday, showed 86,000 new jobs, exceeding market expectations. While still at a low level, it indicates a slight recovery in hiring demand from private enterprises.
2. **ISM Services Employment:** The US October ISM non-manufacturing employment index came in at 51.4, higher than the previous month's 50.1, marking the second consecutive month in expansion territory and the highest level since February.
3. **ISM Manufacturing Employment:** The US October ISM manufacturing employment index came in at 52.4, slightly lower than the previous month's 52.7, but higher than expected, marking the fourth consecutive month in expansion territory.
4. **Initial Jobless Claims:** Initial jobless claims in the US for the week ending October 31st totaled 189,000, lower than both the previous week and expectations, remaining at historically low levels.
5. JOLTS Job Openings – U.S. JOLTs job openings reached 7.523 million in September, exceeding market expectations. The vacancy rate rose to 4.5%, and the vacancy-to-unemployment ratio rebounded to approximately 1.05:1.
6. Challenger Layoffs – U.S. Challenger job cuts totaled 43,994 in October, a 71.3% year-over-year decrease, reflecting a “low-layoff environment” where employers tend to retain existing employees before the holidays.
