Number of unemployed persons per job opening The Labor Department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS, shows job openings increased in June as the number of available positions rose to 5.89 million, compared with 5.37 million in May. Meanwhile, our chart of the day shows how different ... READ MORE >
Calm before the storm: New jobless claims remain below long-term average
Initial benefit claims for unemployment insurance remained subdued in the past week, signaling a still-healthy labor market despite the outbreak of the coronavirus. With the shutting down of entertainment venues, schools and other large gatherings picking up momentum as social distancing gains ... READ MORE >
Closer look at monthly jobs data shows the glass only half full
The decade-long recovery from the Great Recession reveals some cracks in the glass. The monthly change in non-farm payrolls is closely followed by financial markets and is often the catalyst for outsized market moves. We say that because the payroll series is volatile, with a 1960-2020 average change of ... READ MORE >
Think China is paying for tariffs? Guess again
The U.S. Customs and Border Patrol is on pace to collect more than $72 billion in import duties as a result of U.S. tariffs so far this year. An oft-repeated claim is that China is paying the cost of these new duties. But we have data showing exactly who is paying--U.S. businesses and ... READ MORE >
New RSM US Manufacturing Outlook Index points to manufacturing slowdown, recession risk
A new manufacturing index from RSM has been declining on trend for 14 months since peaking in June 2018, and has been negative since December of last year. The performance of the new measure, the RSM US Manufacturing Outlook Index, suggests the potential for negative growth in manufacturing sales in the ... READ MORE >
Middle market companies yet to embrace hedging, despite mounting costs
Subtitle
Despite mounting cost pressures on their supply chains, just a fraction of middle market companies appear to be hedging commodity prices for the longer term, recent RSM research shows. Nearly 70 percent of executives surveyed in the proprietary RSM US Middle Market Business Index survey said they paid ... READ MORE >