Daily Archives: Jun 7, 2019 at 11:19 am EDT

US Labor Market Growth Was Surprisingly Weak In May

US companies added just 90,000 workers in May, according to today’s payrolls report from the Labor Department. The soft gain surprised analysts and marks a hefty slowdown from April’s solid 205,000 increase. The deceleration in growth is worrisome, although mostly because it reflects uncertainty about President Trump’s trade war with China and, more recently, Mexico. If and when these battles end, or at least cool, it’s reasonable to assume that the labor market will rebound. Meantime, employers are taking a cautious approach to hiring.

Continue reading

Macro Briefing: 7 June 2019

Trump plans to declare new nat’l emergency to impose tariffs: The Hill
Progress reported in US-Mexico trade talks: Reuters
Strong US job growth expected in today’s update for May: Reuters
Is US recession worry overblown? WSJ
Fed faces challenges in offsetting headwinds from trade conflicts: CNBC
German industrial product fell sharply in April: MW
US imports and exports tumbled in April as trade gap narrowed: Bloomberg
US job cuts surged in May, lifting annual change to +86%: CG&C
Jobless claims in US hold steady at low level: CNBC