Hog futures fell for the first time in a week as U.S. jobs data signaled a fragile economic recovery, eroding prospects for pork demand. Cattle rose to the highest price since April.
Wholesale pork declined 0.8 percent to 96.59 cents a pound yesterday, the biggest drop in a week, and spot-market hog prices touched a three-week low, government data show. U.S. employers added 18,000 workers in June, the fewest in nine months, and the unemployment rate unexpectedly rose to 9.2 percent, Labor Department figures showed.
“The jobs report damped the outlook for economic recovery,” said Doug Houghton, an analyst at Brock Associates in Milwaukee. “If you look at the cash market, the packers have probably covered a good part of next week’s needs, and they’re still looking at weak margins.”
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