Last Week: 1.21%
YTD: 1.50%
1 Year: 26.03%
Dow Jones Industrial Average
Last Week: 0.77%
YTD: 0.52%
1 Year: 16.87%
Last Week: 2.22%
YTD: 1.86%
1 Year: 43.07%
YTD: -4.13%
1 Year: 7.29%
YTD: 3.05%
1 Year: 43.88%
YTD: -0.80%
1 Year: 8.98%
Weekly Jobless Claims
The U.S. labor market continues to show great resilience. Initial filings for unemployment insurance totaled 187,000 for the week ending January 13th. This was the lowest level since September 24th, 2022. The total was a 16,000 decline from the previous week, well below the analysts’ 208,000 estimate. Strength in the labor market persists despite the Federal Reserve’s attempts to slow the economy and control inflation.
Retail Sales
Total retail sales beat expectations in December, rising 0.6%. Analysts were expecting a rise of just 0.4%. The major increase was led by clothing and accessory sales at the end of 2023. The Managing Director for trading and investing at Morgan Stanley said, “The Fed was already hammering away on its ‘no rush to cut rates’ message, and today’s stronger-than-expected retail sales won’t give them any reason to change their tune.” The Fed may end up keeping rates higher for longer, and the possibility of a soft landing looks more and more likely.
Consumer Sentiment
The University of Michigan’s famous Consumer Sentiment Survey showed a surge in confidence in January. A rating of 78.8 was the highest level of consumer confidence since July 2021. It is up 21.4% year over year. The large increase in confidence from the survey stems from the hope that inflation is cooling and wage growth is going to increase. Falling gas prices and growth in the stock market have also helped the household view of the current state of the economy.
