This morning’s JOLTS report shows that there are currently only 7.6 million job openings in the United States. Available new positions have dropped 15% over the last 12 months indicating that companies are tightening their budget belts. Interestingly enough, the current 4.1% Unemployment Rate in the U.S. equates to roughly the same number of advertised jobs. The headlines seem ideal, right? However, the Wall Street Journal postulates that 22% of job listings are either duplicates, have already been filled, or are for positions that are not yet ready to be filled. These factors are indications that the Unemployment Rate will be back on the rise in coming months. This coming Friday’s publication is expected to remain at 4.1%.
Oil prices have dropped almost 7% in the last week, helping production and distribution costs to attenuate in the near term.
After the 10%-25% tariffs were announced last week, fears of inflation skyrocketed, but once again the headline seems to be a little misleading. The tariffs are only imposed if our neighbors to the north and south fail to bump up border security. Thus far, Canada & Mexico’s commitment to each provide 10,000 additional border agents has postponed tariff implementation for an additional 30 days.
