Reuters (January 7)
“U.S. job openings dropped to a 14-month low in November while hiring resumed its sluggish tone, pointing to ebbing demand for labor amid policy uncertainty related to import tariffs and the integration of artificial intelligence in some work roles.” Nevertheless, “employers remained hesitant to carry out mass layoffs, keeping the labor market in what economists and policymakers call a ‘no hire, no fire’ state.”
Tags: AI, Demand, Ebbing, Employers, Hiring, Import tariffs, Job openings, Labor market, Layoffs, Low, November, Policy uncertainty, Sluggish, U.S.
Wall Street Journal (November 23)
“Fear of bursting investment bubbles. Concern the economy is slowing. Pressure on investors to cash in profits. These forces are colliding in markets, leading to the sharpest intraday swings for stocks in months and leaving investors bracing for more.” Already, the S&P 500 is down 3.5% in November.” Not to be outdone, the “Nasdaq composite has slid more than 6%” during the same period.”
Tags: Bubbles, Bursting, Cash, Colliding, Concern, Economy, Fear, Intraday swings, Investment, Investors, Markets, Nasdaq, November, Pressure, Profits, S&P 500, Stocks
CNBC (November 7)
“Worries over the government shutdown surged in the early part of November, pushing consumer sentiment to its lowest in more than three years and just off its worst level ever.” The most recent University of Michigan “Index of Consumer Sentiment posted a reading of 50.3 for the month, indicating a decline of 6.2% on the month and about 30% from a year ago…. November’s reading was the second lowest going back to at least 1978.”
Tags: 1978, 50.3, Consumer sentiment, Decline, Government shutdown, Lowest, November, Surged, University of Michigan, Worries, Worst level
Mint (December 12)
“Commercial real estate investment volume in Japan jumped 21% year-on-year to ¥2.6 trillion in the first half, according to Jones Lang LaSalle Inc.,” placing Tokyo ahead of New York and London as “the most active global city.” Largely recovering from the pandemic, Tokyo office vacancies in November fell to a four-year low of 4.16%.
Tags: ¥2.6 trillion, 21%, Commercial real estate, First-half, Investment volume, Japan, Jones Lang LaSalle, London, New York, November, Office vacancies, Pandemic, Tokyo
The Guardian (July 16)
“What the world needs is a period of stability after the repeated blows of recent years.” But that’s unlikely if Donald Trump prevails in November. “Anybody wondering what the next big economic shock might be… need look no further than the frontrunner to be in charge of the world’s biggest economy in six months’ time.”
Tags: Blows, Economic shock, Economy, Frontrunner, November, Prevails, Stability, Trump, World, World's biggest
Financial Times (January 9)
“Unemployment in the eurozone fell back to a record low of 6.4 per cent in November, defying recent economic gloom after the number of jobless people fell almost 100,000 from a month earlier.” With the job market “proving more resilient than expected,” the ECB may worry more “about the timing of a potential cut in interest rates” as “rapid wage growth could keep price pressures elevated.”
Tags: 4%, Cut, ECB, Economic gloom, eurozone, Interest rates, Jobless, Market, November, Record, Resilient, Timing, Unemployment, Wage growth
Wall Street Journal (December 22)
“The Federal Reserve is winning its fight over inflation, boosting Americans’ spirits and offering greater reassurance that the U.S. economy can avoid a recession while bringing prices under control.” The PCE index favored by the Fed, “fell 0.1% in November from the previous month, the first decline since April 2020…. Prices were up 2.6% on the year, not far from the Fed’s 2% target.”
Tags: Boosting, Decline, Economy, Fed, Inflation, November, PCE index, Prices, Reassurance, Recession, Target, U.S.
Washington Post (December 10)
“China’s consumer prices fell the fastest in three years in November while factory-gate deflation deepened, indicating rising deflationary pressures as weak domestic demand casts doubt over the economic recovery.” Year on year and month on month, CPI fell a worse than expected 0.5%. “The year-on-year CPI decline was the steepest since November 2020.”
Tags: China, CPI, Deepened, Deflation, Domestic demand, Doubt, Economic recovery, Factory-gate, Fell, November, Pressures, Steepest, Weak, Worse
Bloomberg (December 1)
“For all the bullish milestones notched by November’s big market surge, recent history offers Wall Street a lesson in caution. Time and time again, speculation breaks out that the Federal Reserve is poised to ease monetary policy soon enough — spurring even cautious investors to erupt in a spasm of cross-asset buying. Stocks jump, bond yields fall, and a dash ensues among equity speculators into shady corners encompassing everything from meme fliers to crypto and profitless tech.”
Tags: Bonds, Bullish, Caution, Cautious, Cross-asset buying, Crypto, Fed, Investors, Market surge, Monetary policy, November, Speculation, Stocks, Tech, Wall Street, Yields
Washington Post (November 3)
“November opened with a slew of heat records from North Africa to East Asia as abnormal warmth swelled over the Eastern Hemisphere. The exceptional warmth is a recurring theme in 2023, which is poised to become the hottest year on record for the planet.”
Tags: 2023, Abnormal warmth, East Asia, Eastern Hemisphere, Exceptional, Heat records, Hottest year, North Africa, November, Record
