With all the focus on the labour market right now, there are a few data points within today’s Consumer Confidence report that could get some attention and worth being aware of.

1. Jobs hard to find (overlaying this with the unemployment rate should explain why it’s useful and why it would matter going into next week’s jobs data).

2. Ratio between Jobs plentiful and jobs not so plentiful (a big drop in this one can get attention as well)

3. Ratio of Present situation versus forward expectations (this has in past cycles offered a fairly decent trigger or warning of slowdown conditions – but please keep in mind this has not been a regular cycle so pinch of salt, but the current macro context makes this interesting)

Unfortunately these aren’t part of the usual calendar release which is usually only the headline number, so it will require some digging in the report. But big surprises in these ones could get more attention today and worth keeping on the radar.

This article was written by Arno V Venter at www.forexlive.com.