Last Week: 1.18%
YTD: 12.70%
1 Year: 26.03%
Dow Jones Industrial Average
Last Week: 0.58%
YTD: 3.76%
1 Year: 16.65%
Last Week: 1.70%
YTD: 14.11%
1 Year: 30.42%
Last Week: -1.67%
YTD: 0.50%
1 Year: 9.94%
YTD: 16.10%
1 Year: 34.02%
YTD: 6.74%
1 Year: 16.34%
Job Report
The U.S. added 272,000 jobs in May. This was well above the estimated 190,000 jobs expected to be added. This was over 100,000 new jobs added over April’s 165,000 jobs. The biggest job gains were in health care, government, and leisure and hospitality. Average hourly earnings were also higher than expected, rising 0.4% monthly and 4.1% from a year ago. Despite the new jobs added, unemployment has ticked up to 4%. Given the strong labor market, the stock market was down on the jobs report, as it further signals the Fed may not cut rates until later this year.
Flight Attendant Union
American Airlines was in the news again last week. American Airlines offered flight attendants a 17% immediate pay increase, but the deal was struck down by the union. The union and American Airlines executives are meeting this week with federal mediators for a “last-ditch” effort to get a deal signed before the flight attendants prepare to strike. The last pay increase for American Airlines flight attendants was before the pandemic. Many airline pilots negotiated new deals in the last 12-months, but as for flight attendants, they are still negotiating their new requests.
Providing Value
Retailers are trying to find ways to show their shoppers the value of the goods in their stores by bringing back discounts. The pandemic shopping boom saw retailers post record profits and widening profit margins. Discount retailers have struggled to maintain their core customers which are traditionally the lower income households. Discount retailers like Five Below and Dollar General both adjusted guidance downward recently stating a softening consumer base and slowing sales. Last week, both Target and Walgreens announced they were both lowering prices on thousands of items from food to household goods. The furniture giant, Ikea, has also announced price cuts on popular items. Retail sales have held up strong despite inflation, but shoppers are growing more selective about where they are spending money.
