49 Quotes by Stuart Hoffman

The bottom line is it is a very solid report, but with continued inflationary pressure building up, it will make it easy for the Fed to conclude (Tuesday's meeting) with a quarter-point increase,

The report is stronger than appears on the surface. Unlike other parts of the economy, manufacturing activity moved up, so I would say in general this is a pretty solid report. Utility output was down probably because of the relatively cool summer we had.

This is a very weak number and well below what everyone expected. It's not the kind of report the Fed likes to see, but I think they'll recognize that the economy is already rebounding and raise the federal funds target rate to 4.5 percent.

It's a very good report. That's good news post-hurricanes. It shows us the job market is alive and well.

It's not a good sign when delinquencies rise, There are enough other positive things in the consumer sector to say this is not a signal for some significant retrenchment ... that could threaten the economy.

Stocks and bonds rallied at first, but now have hemmed down. Stocks are coming off a superb day yesterday, so that may be a little profit taking.

It's clear that job growth in the last three months has been as slow as it has been in quite a while. It is a picture of a somewhat slower or weaker job market.

It was a good report right through. As you look through the report there is a noticeable absence of inflation on a broad basis. The numbers, if anything, are steady to lower on inflation and show that it just isn't at all a problem for the economy or the Fed.

This is in spite of gasoline rebounding 10 to 15 cents in January. This also squares with the jobless claims data.