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The first full trading week of January was a consequential one, largely because nonfarm payroll reports were released. On Wednesday, the ADP nonfarm payroll report revealed that 122,000 jobs were added in December, which was lower than the expected 139,000 and was also lower than November’s 149,000 figure.

On Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its report that found the economy added 256,000 jobs in December. This was higher than the expected 164,000 additional positions and was also higher than the 212,000 added last month. It’s worth noting that November’s figure was revised downward, so it’s possible that changes could be forthcoming to December’s tally as well.

The unemployment rate ticked down to 4.1 percent from 4.2 percent. Average hourly earnings were steady at .3 percent for the month of December, which was what analysts had expected prior to the release of that information.

The FOMC meeting notes from the December gathering were made public. One of the key takeaways was that Donald Trump’s plan to use tariffs as a trade tool could make it harder to restrain upward price pressures. Ultimately, it could result in slower rate cuts in the coming year.

Furthermore, the Fed announced that rate cuts could be on hold without any tariffs because inflation has remained sticky. With demand for services still strong, it’s unlikely that inflation will return to the stated goal of 2 percent anytime soon. On Tuesday, the ISM Services PMI came in at 54.1 compared to an expected 53.5. Also on Tuesday, the JOLTS labor survey indicated that there were 8.1 million positions available, which was higher than the 7.73 believed to be available.

Unemployment claims data was released on Wednesday morning. It was revealed that 201,000 claims for benefits were made during the past seven days, which was below the expected 214,000.

The S&P 500 finished 2.66 percent lower this week to close at 5,827. On Monday, the index made a high of 6,019 before reversing and tumbling through Friday morning. Early that day, the market hit its low of 5,817.

As with the S&P, the Dow would also fall by more than 2 percent closing at 41,938. During the shortened trading week, the market ranged from a high of 43,109 set on Monday to a low of 41,889 set on Friday.

Finally, the Nasdaq also fell this week by more than 3.6 percent to close at 19,161. The market would hit its high of the week on Monday afternoon when it reached 19,994. Meanwhile, its low of the week was 19,044 set on Friday morning prior to gaining ground that afternoon.

In international news, Canada also announced jobs data on Friday signaling that the country’s economy may be on the mend. It was revealed that the economy added nearly 91,000 jobs and saw its unemployment rate drop to 6.7 percent compared to an expected 6.8 percent. Australia announced on Tuesday that inflation in the nation was 2.3 percent compared to an expected 2.2 percent on an annualized basis.

The upcoming week will feature the release of price change data on Tuesday followed by CPI figures on Wednesday. Inflation is expected to have increased to 2.9 percent on an annualized basis from 2.7 percent last month. Retail sales data will be released on Thursday in addition to unemployment claims for the past week.

The first days of January are upon us, which means that there will likely be a significant amount of market volatility ahead. Despite the mid-week holiday, there were some important news items investors should pay attention to over the coming days.

On Thursday, the weekly unemployment claims numbers were released, and during the last seven days, there were 211,000 requests for benefits compared to an expected 222,000. This week’s figure was also slightly lower than last week’s 220,000 requests for benefits.

On Friday, the ISM Manufacturing PMI report was released, and it came in at 49.2 percent, which was higher than the projected 48.4 percent. This is the second straight month in which the index has gone up, which is seen as an encouraging sign for the American manufacturing industry. However, it is still below 50 percent, which means that the industry is still in a period of mild contraction.

The GOP avoided what could have been a mild crisis by electing Mike Johnson as House speaker. Without a speaker, it would have been impossible to swear in other elected representatives, which means that it wouldn’t have been possible to confirm the election results. If the issue had lingered past Jan. 20, there would be no president, vice president or speaker eligible to serve in the White House. Instead, the job would have fallen to 91-year-old Chuck Grassley as he was next in line to hold the office.

The S&P 500 opened 2025 by losing 1.04 percent to finish at 5,942 at the end of trading Friday. On Thursday, the market made its low of the week at 5,832 before reversing and making a high of 5,948 on Friday afternoon.

Like the S&P 500, the Dow also started off the new year by dropping .87 percent to close the week at 42,732. On Thursday afternoon, the market made a weekly low of 42,199 after making its high of the week of 42,880 just hours prior.

Finally, the Nasdaq lost 1.43 percent over the last five trading days to finish the first week of the new year at 19,621. On Thursday, the market made its weekly low of 19,130 before reversing and closing at its weekly high.

Internationally, a slew of nations in Europe and Asia released their own manufacturing PMI numbers. Canada, China and Spain were the only nations to have a PMI over 50 percent. Spain also announced better than expected employment change numbers on Friday morning revealing that the nation only shed 25,300 jobs last month compared to an expected 46,500.

This week will be a busy one as the JOLTS Job Openings report, services PMI and nonfarm payroll figures are all released. In addition, the University of Michigan will release preliminary consumer confidence and inflation expectation figures. Internationally, Canada will announce its unemployment and job change figures on Friday while Germany, Australia and Switzerland release their annual inflation numbers.