The Automobile Page -- July 21, 2016

GM: earnings released for 2Q16. GM profit more than doubles on US earnings. Incredible. Earnings of $2.87 billion; cut low-profit sales to rental car companies. GM raised its earnings guidance for the year. Even eked out a $137 million profit in Europe, but made $500 million on its joint venture in China. 

Jobs: prior, 254K; consensus, 265K (a rise of 11,000 forecast); actual: 253K, a decline of 1,000. Four-week moving average: 257,750. From Econoday, the consensus was based on the "usual" summer auto-retooling layoffs. 

All the readings in this report are very low, arguably at the lowest levels on record. But the missing piece is this summer's auto retooling which, when it appears, may have an outsized reverse effect on the data. The Labor Department says there are no special factors in today's report, one which points to a second month of strength for the monthly employment report.