What we’re reading (6/4)
“The May Jobs Report Shows Signs Of Labor-Market Acceleration As Unemployment Falls” (Business Insider). “The US economy added 559,000 nonfarm payrolls in May, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday morning. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg held a median estimate of a 674,000-payroll gain. The reading shows a sharp acceleration from April's dismal report, which saw job growth land well below economist forecasts.”
“Eurozone Inflation Above Target Sooner Than The ECB Expected” (Wall Street Journal). “The annual rate of inflation in the eurozone rose in May to hit the European Central Bank’s target for the first time since late 2018, as energy prices surged in response to a strengthening recovery in the global economy. The pickup in price rises comes before a June 10 meeting of policy makers at the eurozone’s central bank, which will consider new economic forecasts and whether to continue stimulus programs launched early in the pandemic.”
“The New Geopolitics Of Global Business” (The Economist). “[T]he post-pandemic business world is dramatically different from what you might have expected two decades ago. Tech firms comprise a quarter of the global stockmarket and the geographic mix has become strikingly lopsided. America and, increasingly, China are ascendant, accounting for 76 of the world’s 100 most valuable firms. Europe’s tally has fallen from 41 in 2000 to 15 today.”
“Palantir Gets Aggressive In SPAC Investments, Backing Digital Health, Aviation And Robot Companies” (CNBC). “Palantir has now agreed to at least six SPAC deals in less than three months. A SPAC is a blank-check company that raises money to buy a private entity through a reverse merger and take it public with the help of financing from additional investors. By participating in the PIPE, or private investment in public equity, Palantir is guaranteed ownership of a certain amount of stock once the transaction closes and the shares in the operating company start trading.”
“Employees Are Quitting Instead of Giving Up Working From Home” (Bloomberg). “While companies from Google to Ford Motor Co. and Citigroup Inc. have promised greater flexibility, many chief executives have publicly extolled the importance of being in offices…[b]ut legions of employees aren’t so sure. If anything, the past year has proved that lots of work can be done from anywhere, sans lengthy commutes on crowded trains or highways…[a]nd for Portia Twidt, there’s also the notion that some bosses, particularly those of a generation less familiar to remote work, are eager to regain tight control of their minions.”
