Private payroll firm ADP’s U.S. unemployment report on Wednesday revealed that employers added a disappointing 330,000 jobs in July, dramatically below forecasts that around 700,000 new jobs would be created.
Tim Smart for U.S. News and World Report:
Gains were almost exclusively in the services sector, where 318,000 jobs were added, of which 139,000 came in leisure and hospitality.
The report is the first of three this week that will offer a window into the current state of the job market and is sure to rattle markets worried about slowing economic growth and inflation.
“There’s a tricky balance in that there is a tremendous demand for labor but little supply,” says Dan North, Euler Hermes’ chief economist for North America.
The job market is one of two key factors, along with inflation, the Federal Reserve Board considers when deciding monetary policy.
Small businesses are ready to hire, according to the Small Business Recovery Report from Kabbage, which provides financing for small companies. However, they are running into difficulties finding workers, with 26% saying candidates do not need income because of federal stimulus payments or enhanced unemployment benefits provided under the American Rescue Plan. Those benefits have been curtailed early in half the states and are set to completely end early next month.
MacDailyNews Take: Obviously, a healthy U.S. economy is essential to Apple, as America is Apple’s largest market, by far.
Again, it’s best to get a handle on inflation, if you know how, while you still can.
Inflation is repudiation. — Calvin Coolidge
When a business or an individual spends more than it makes, it goes bankrupt. When government does it, it sends you the bill. And when government does it for 40 years, the bill comes in two ways: higher taxes and inflation. Make no mistake about it, inflation is a tax and not by accident. — Ronald Reagan