US job lay-offs a rising concern for US stocks and the S+P 500

A short while ago the latest US Challenger job lay-offs numbers were reported and they were not good. The markets were expecting lay-offs around 50k in February. The actual number was 172k and that was a bit of a surprise and the worst number since January 2020. This data does also include 63k in Government lay-offs. So, it will be interesting, to see it that data is replicated in the weekly jobless claims due out at 1.30pm GMT. The markets are expecting a number of around 233k and it might not be a surprise to see that beaten on the downside. The monthly jobs report may not be so impacted though, but we shall have to see how that pans out in the data tomorrow. This data has already had an impact on the markets amid some conflicting earnings reports. The S+P 500 is the broadest measure of that and there has been little in the way of any rebound since an earlier update noted the index futures falling back. So, a lower opening is still on the cards this afternoon. Right now that is around 5,776