Nonfarm payrolls rose 115,000 in April, beating the consensus expectation for a gain of 65,000. Payroll gains for February and March were revised down by a combined 16,000, resulting in a net gain of 99,000, including revisions. The largest increases in April were health care and social assistance (up 54,000), transportation and warehouse jobs (up 30,000), and retail (up 22,000). Manufacturing jobs declined 2,000 while government jobs declined 8,000. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.3 percent in April. Initial jobless claims for unemployment rose 10,000 last week to a still relatively low 200,000 while continuing claims declined 10,000 to 1.766 million, also historically low. The report showed Americans working slig...
What You Need to Know Today: Funds remain in control of the market, which means broadly bearish trade for the ag sector. Monday’s massive corn export sale to Mexico helped trigger some short covering and a bit of other end-user buying in corn, which could help stabilize the market. Wheat...
With less than 24 hours until Election Day, control of the Senate remains a wild card. Republicans and Democrats alike say they are poised to win control of the chamber in the new Congress that starts in January 2027. The House of Representatives is more of a lost cause for continued Republican...
Key Takeaways: U.S. hog and pork prices have declined sharply, with December lean hog futures ending October at $58.875/cwt and the pork cutout reaching its lowest level since January 2021. Seasonal increases in hog slaughter and pork production have contributed to price weakness, although the...
From WPI Consulting
Forecasting developments in production agriculture
On behalf of a private U.S. agricultural technology provider, WPI’s team generated an econometric model to forecast the movement of concentrated corn production north and west from the traditional U.S. Corn Belt. WPI’s model has subsequently provided quantitative support to a multi-million-dollar investment into short-season corn variety development. WPI’s methodology included a series of interviews with regional grain elevators and seed consultants. Emphasizing outreach and communication with stakeholders who possess intimate sectoral knowledge – on-the-ground insights – is a regular component of WPI’s methodologies, made possible by WPI’s ever-growing network of industry contacts.