Is there a new inflation trend that could affect Fed policy?

The April jobs report is yet another piece of economic data that is watched closely by the Federal Reserve and Wall Street alike. It is an indication of how the economy is growing and trends in inflation, but could there be something new with this month's report?

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 175,000 jobs were added to the US economy, falling short of forecasts for 240,000 jobs.

Federated Hermes Chief Equity Strategist Phil Orlando joins Wealth! to give insight into the correlation between April's jobs data results and how the Fed will view inflation, along with what investors need to know for potential impacts on the market (^DJI, ^IXIC, ^GSPC).

Orlando responds to a question about a potentially new trend emerging in the market: "You hit the nail on the proverbial head here that one aberrant month of data is a blip, two months are a fluke, but three months in a row, then maybe you've got a new trend here. And that's what the Fed is watching. If you look at the other data that we saw over the course of this week related to this morning's report, the ADP private payrolls that we saw earlier in the week, very strong. Initial weekly jobless claims that we saw yesterday, very strong. Suggesting the labor market is growing very significantly."

He continues with: "So the Federal Reserve is looking at this morning's report and saying, 'hey, this is great news, but which report is right? Is it this morning's jobs report that's right or is it the ADP report or the claims report or the employment cost index or the unit labor cost? The short answer is none of us know. So the appropriate thing for the Federal Reserve to do, which is what they did Wednesday, is literally nothing. "

For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Wealth!

This post was written by Nicholas Jacobino