Employment

The Economic Week Ahead: October 2 - 6

Sep 30, 2023 2 min read paid

The first week of the month is usually jampacked with employment indicator releases. On balance, we expect they will show that the labor market remains relatively strong. August's JOLTS report (Tue) could show that job openings fell but remained high as evidenced by the "jobs plentiful" series in the consumer confidence survey (chart). The jobs plentiful series also suggests less upward pressure on wages, as measured

Ed Yardeni

Hooray! Job Openings & Quits Fall

Aug 29, 2023 2 min read paid

The stock market rallied on Friday, Monday, and today despite Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s hawkish speech at Jackson Hole on Friday. The S&P 500 rose back above its 50-day moving average (chart). The 10-year Treasury bond yield fell to 4.12% today. The rallies in both stocks and bonds received a bullish jolt from June’s JOLTS report today showing fewer job openings and quits than expected

Ed Yardeni

Upside Productivity Surprise Subdues Inflation, Maybe

Aug 3, 2023 1 min read

Wow! This morning's Q2 Productivity and Costs report was surprisingly good, but a bit hard to believe. Nonfarm productivity jumped 3.7% q/q (saar) as output increased 2.4% (the same as real GDP), while hours worked fell 1.3% (chart). The decline in hours worked is the first decline since Q2-2020 and was the result of a 1.3% decline in average weekly hours; employment was

Ed Yardeni

The Economic Week Ahead: July 31-August 4

Jul 30, 2023 2 min read paid

The M-PMI is released on the first business day of each month. The NM-PMI is released two days later. We expect that the former (Tue) will show that the rolling recession in the goods-producing sector is bottoming, while the latter (Thu) should show that the service-providing sector is still expanding. We already have four of the regional business surveys conducted by five FRB district banks. The average of their general

Stephen Rybka

July's Consumer Confidence Up As Jobs Remain Plentiful

Jul 25, 2023 1 min read paid

Among the earliest monthly indicators of the US jobs market is the consumer confidence survey conducted by the Conference Board. July’s survey came out on Tuesday. The Consumer Confidence Index rose smartly this month, with solid gains in both its current conditions and expectations components (chart). Furthermore, consider the following: (1) The survey’s “jobs plentiful” series edged up to 46.9% (chart). That’s down from readings of

Ed Yardeni

Hot Job Reports Hit Stocks & Bonds Like A Bucket Of Cold Water

Jul 6, 2023 2 min read paid

The job market is still hot despite the 500bps increase in the federal funds rate since March of last year. Today's batch of strong labor market reports turned investors cold on stocks and bonds. Good news for workers is bad news for financial markets if it means that the Fed will continue to raise interest rates. In addition, it gives hard-landers another spin: The economy may be strong

Ed Yardeni

The Economic Week Ahead: July 3-7

Jul 2, 2023 2 min read paid

The first week of every month tends to be jampacked with employment and PMI releases. All eyes will be on June's employment report at the end of the week. The recent upturn in initial unemployment claims suggests that the labor market may be cooling off a bit. Thursday's jobless claims should confirm that. However, that same day, May's JOLTS report should show that job

Ed Yardeni

Onshoring Is Happening Now. Don't Underestimate MAMA!

Jun 6, 2023 2 min read

Don't underestimate "MAMA," which stands for “Making America Manufacture Again.” Manufacturers, large and small, domestic and foreign, are tapping into the trillions of dollars of incentives available in the CHIPS and Science Act, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to build factories in the US. They plan to make semiconductors, batteries, solar equipment, electric vehicles (EVs), and green hydrogen, among

Ed Yardeni

S&P 500: Smooth Sailing to Another 2023 High

Jun 1, 2023 2 min read paid

Hooray! The US government won't default on its debts. There are plenty of jobs. Unit-labor-cost inflation is moderating. The banking crisis is abating. The recession is still a no-show. Earnings were better than expected during Q1 and are probably bottoming during the current quarter. The FOMC likely will pause its rate hiking for at least one meeting. AI will boost productivity if it doesn't kill us.

Ed Yardeni

The Economic Week Ahead: May 30-June 2

May 29, 2023 2 min read paid

Now that a debt deal is on the verge of becoming a done deal, the markets can focus on economic growth and inflation. This week will be a big one for labor market indicators. May's consumer confidence survey (Tue) will include a series for "jobs plentiful." The latter is highly correlated with the JOLTS report's "job openings" series to be released with

Ed Yardeni

Hard to Have a Hard Landing When Employment Is Growing

May 7, 2023 2 min read paid

The S&P 500 rallied on Friday following yet another stronger-than-expected employment report. In his press conference on Wednesday, May 3, Fed Chair Jerome Powell observed: “It’s interesting [that] we’ve raised rates by 5 percentage points in 14 months, and the unemployment rate is 3½% pretty much where it was, even lower than where it was, when we started.” On Friday, we learned that the unemployment rate

Ed Yardeni

The Economic Week Ahead: May 1-5

Apr 29, 2023 1 min read paid

This is another big week for earnings reports, which have been mostly better than expected so far. In addition, the FOMC meets on Tuesday and Wednesday, when Fed Chair Jerome Powell holds his après-meeting presser at 2:30 p.m. In our opinion, it's a toss-up whether the Fed will do none or one 25bps rate hike. But our subjective odds of an announced pause is 75% either

Ed Yardeni

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