It was not the employment numbers that market watchers or politicians were hoping for last Friday (8/06/10).  The 131,000 job losses nationwide in July followed a revised 221,000 worker reduction in June (the latter total was originally estimated at 125,000).  The 131,000 drop was a combination of 71,000 job gains in the private sector, offset by a 202,000 cutback in government employees.  More than 70% of the lost government jobs were temporary census workers.  What it all means is that the Federal Reserve has one more complicating factor that may keep them on edge as they meet tomorrow (8/10/10) for their 5th scheduled meeting of 2010.  Investors and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke are both asking "what more can the Fed do to help?"  Short-term interest rates have been maintained at near zero since mid-December 2008, leaving the Fed little wiggle room on that front (source: BTN Research).  
 
The US government is offering $74 billion of treasury securities in auctions to bond investors over 3 trading days this week.  $33 billion of the total will be used to rollover existing treasury securities and the remaining $41 billion will be new funds raised.  Last week's 4.49% average interest rate for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage was the index's 6th record low in the last 7 weeks (source: Treasury Department, Freddie Mac).
 
The White House has stated its case in the battle over the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts for Americans earning more than $250,000 a year (note that to rank in the top 2% of taxpayers required an adjusted gross income of $261,000 or more in 2007).  The Senate is expected to take up the debate next month but a vote to extend (the Republican choice) or to end (President Obama's choice) the tax cuts to high-income earners may be put off until after the November 2010 elections (source: Senate, House).