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Job Numbers Exceeded Wall Street's Expectations
WASHINGTON, DC, (PRNewswire) April 4, 2004 - House Majority Whip Roy Blunt has called the nation's new job numbers "another very positive sign that Republican tax relief policies are working."

The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that 308,000 new jobs were created in March, for a total of 513,000 new jobs in the first three months of 2004.

"The American economy is proving its resilience," said Blunt. "Congress must continue to implement policies that foster sustained economic resurgence and job growth."

Added Blunt: "Today's job numbers exceeded Wall Street's expectations, but they mean even more to Main Street. In March, 308,000 more Americans went to work, earned a paycheck, and began to plan for their futures. We cannot turn back to failed policies that would cripple growth; instead we need to make President Bush's tax cuts permanent."

The market was off to a strong start Friday morning, as March's job data grew at its fastest pace in four years. Non-farm payrolls leapt by 308,000, far outpacing economist expectations for an addition of 120,000 jobs. Also, the unemployment rated edged up as more people entered the work force in search of jobs. On the corporate front, technology stocks are leading the market higher, as Gateway is closing all its company- operated stores, Sun Microsystems and Microsoft are settling their long- standing legal suit and Lucent is leaping on an upgrade. Treasury prices are lower.

The Nasdaq Composite Index is leaping 32.53 to 2047.54, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average is climbing 92.08 to 10465.41. The S&P 500 Index is advancing 9.95 to 1142.12. The 10-year Treasury note is falling 1 29/32, yielding 4.12%.
Topping this morning's headlines, non-farm business payrolls grew by 308,000 in March, the fastest rate in four years. The Labor Department also said that job growth in January and February was 87,000 more than previously thought. Still, the unemployment rate edged up a tenth of a percentage point to 5.7%, as 179,000 people entered the work force in search of jobs. March's jobs data far outpaced expectations, as economists were looking for payrolls to grow by 120,000, although they also believed the unemployment rate would remain steady at 5.6%.
Within the tech space, Gateway is rallying, after it said that it will close its 188 company-operated stores, resulting in the elimination of 2,500 jobs, in a bid to reduce conflicts with retailers. The store closures will occur at the end of next week, and Gateway will continue to sell on the Web and through phone orders. The firm intends to pursue a wider retail distribution network in the U.S. and overseas. Subsequently, Bear Stearns upgraded Gateway to "peer perform" from "underperform."
Elsewhere, Sun Microsystems and Microsoft settled their long-running suit in a deal worth almost $2 billion. Sun Micro and Microsoft agreed to pay royalties for use of each other's technology, with Microsoft making an up-front payment of $350 million and Sun making payments once the technology is incorporated into its server products. Also, Sun Microsystems said it would restructure its business by reducing staff by 3,300 jobs and its global property portfolio in a bid to cut costs. The firm expects a third-quarter loss of $0.23 to $0.25 a share on revenue of $2.65 billion.
XM Satellite Radio is surging, after the firm announced it added 320,000 new subscribers in the first quarter, bringing its total subscriber base to 1.68 million.
Sierra Wireless doubled its first-quarter profit outlook to $0.12 a share, as the firm sees stronger demand and operating results across its main product lines. The firm's revenue is also expected to surpass $40 million, higher than its prior outlook of $35 million to $37 million.
Walgreen's March same-store sales jumped 12.6%, aided by same-store sales of pharmacy products that gained 16.5%. Total sales leapt 17.4% to $3.22 billion from $2.75 billion a year ago.
Meanwhile, Schnitzer Steel Industries reported a profit of $0.89 a share for the fiscal second quarter, on revenues of $161.6 million. Last year, the company earned $0.44 a share, on revenue of $124.7 million. Analysts were looking for a profit of $0.47 a share, according to Thomson First Call. Looking ahead, third-quarter sales volumes are expected to be in the range of last year's levels, with income from operations coming in at $38 million to $43 million.
Turning to research, J.P. Morgan upgraded Lucent to "neutral" from "underweight," due in part to a strong CDMA wireless infrastructure market over the next two years, and LU's substantially improved gross margins.

Linda Shea, Thomson Financial Corporate Group

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