U.S. Non-Farm Payrolls Rise 18,000; Jobless Rate at 9.2%

Arthi Gupta
08 Jul, 2011
New York City

U.S. indexes futures edged lower after non-farm payrolls increased a meagre 18,000 and unemployment rate climbed to 9.2% in June. U.S. retailers reported best same store sales in seven years. Newport agreed to buy Ophir Optronics for $230 million.

[R]9:00 AM New York – U.S. indexes futures edged lower after non-farm payrolls increased a meagre 18,000 and unemployment rate climbed to 9.2% in June. U.S. retailers reported best same store sales in seven years. Newport agreed to buy Ophir Optronics for $230 million.[/R]

U.S. indexes futures edged lower after disappointing non-farm payrolls data. Asian markets traded higher and the European indexes traded sideways and German exports gained 4.3% in May.

U.S. Non-Farm Payrolls Rise

The U.S. economy added 18,000 jobs in June, according to a report released by the U.S. Labor Department today. This data was well below the average of 215,000 posted from February through April.

The unemployment rate climbed to 9.2% in June from 9.1% in May.

The weaker than expected job growth was fueled entirely by the private sector, which added a modest 57,000 jobs, offsetting the loss of 39,000 government jobs. The private sector job growth was the lowest since May 2010.

NYSE Euronext Wins Shareholders Approval]

NYSE Euronext, Inc. said its shareholders approved the company''s $9.53 billion acquisition by Germany''s Deutsche Boerse AG to create the world''s biggest stock and derivatives exchange.

Following the merger, Deutsche Boerse shareholders will own 60% of the combined entity, while NYSE Euronext shareholders would own the remaining 40%.

The companies expect the deal to create synergies of €550 million or $798 million, including €400 million or $580 million in full run-rate cost savings and €150 million or $218 million in revenue enhancements.

Newport Buys Ophir Optronics

Newport Corp., the technology products and systems maker agreed to acquire Israel-based Ophir Optronics Ltd. for a cash consideration of $8.43 per share or a total of about $230 million in cash.

The company expects the addition of Ophir to further strengthen its financial model and enable us to achieve even higher levels of profitability and cash generation.

Earnings Review

FTI Consulting, Inc. ((FCN)), the business advisory firm estimates second quarter revenues in the range of $395 million to $401 million, and adjusted earnings per share to be in the range of $0.54 to $0.59.

Regis Corporation ((RGS)), the hair salon chain reported fourth quarter consolidated revenues grew 0.3% to $591.84 million from $589.95 million in the prior-year period but total same-store sales decreased 1.7%.

WD-40 Company ((WDFC)), the consumer products company reported third quarter sales increased 4% to $85.5 million from $82.6 million in the year-ago quarter. Net profit in the quarter declined 11.1% to $8.0 million or 47 cents per diluted share compared to net profit of $9.0 million or 54 cents per share last year.