Is our economy going in the right direction or reversing course? What’s been happening, and what can we expect going forward? Let’s take a look!
Here are Five Fast Facts about the latest economic numbers:
- 📰 The Headlines - The headlines were splashy: 353,000 jobs added! It was almost double the expectation, and many took it as a sign of the economy being stronger than everyone thought. Now let’s see if those numbers stick over the next couple of months…
- 📉 The Fall - Inflation has been coming down for a while now, and is within spitting distance of the normal target of 2%. In fact, the rolling 6-month average is there. This is largely what is driving the talk of the Fed starting to lower interest rates. Theoretically, of course.
- 📈 The Rise - One bit of good news is that wages (i.e. Paychecks) have been going up. Typical weekly earnings rose 2.2% even after accounting for inflation. This is helping consumers be willing to spend money even though life in general is expensive.
- 😲 The Rocket - Less good is the fact that even with lower inflation, prices are still waaaaaay higher than just a couple of years ago. Overall, everything is 17% more costly. Chicken and bread are up 25%, milk is up 18%, and apartment rent is almost double pre-pandemic levels. Ouch!
- 👍 The Reality - While there are plenty of challenges, people are feeling a bit better about things in general. It helps that hiring has remained pretty stable, and that unemployment has remained relatively low for about two years. Having a job definitely provides a helluva lot of good feelings, doesn’t it?
🔥Bottom line: As always, the economy is a mysterious beast with huge complexity. Some things are up, some things are down, and both reality and perception help explain what’s going on. For most people, it’s just about doing the best you can each day to take care of your family. So it’s great to keep an eye on things like the job numbers, but ultimately if you’re in a good spot, just be thankful and stay on that train as long as you can.
How are things going for you?
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