Hard Data Catching Up to Soft Data

Until Friday’s jobs report, the hard data that investors had at hand was mildly nauseating and is worth revising a Bank of America Merrill Lynch report out in April. That Credit Market Strategist report looked at the disparity between extremely bullish soft data and what appeared mildly bearish hard data. With Friday’s unemployment number coming in at a strong 211,000 jobs – and the unemployment rate at 4.4% approaching the lowest level since the 1960s – does this signal that hard data may finally be catching up?

Hard data - Consumer loan growth during Trump administration has rolled over

Coming into Friday’s jobs report, the gap between soft data, such as...