What we’re reading (8/3)
“American Consumers Are Getting Thrifty Again” (Wall Street Journal). “Americans are back on the hunt for a good deal. Consumer spending stagnated in the first half of this year, according to federal data issued last week, and the CEOs of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Kroger and Procter & Gamble, among others, are telling investors that their customers are more strapped—or appear to feel that way. ‘There’s a lot of consumer anxiety,’ said Dirk Van de Put, chief executive of Mondelez International, which makes Oreo cookies, Ritz crackers and Cadbury chocolate. Global sales of snacks rose last quarter, but U.S. sales fell a lot.”
“Forecasts Predict A Dismal Decade For Stocks. Here’s What To Do.” (USA Today). “In recent forecasts, Vanguard projects the stock market will rise by only 3.3% to 5.3% a year over the next decade. Morningstar sees U.S. stocks gaining 5.2% a year. Goldman Sachs forecasts the broad S&P 500 index will gain only 3% a year.”
“Poorest US Workers Hit Hardest By Slowing Wage Growth” (Financial Times). “America’s lowest-paid workers are suffering a sharper slowdown in wage growth than their richer peers, adding to the pressure on Donald Trump over inequality as he threatens to undermine the reliability of US economic data. Data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta shows wage growth for the lowest-paid quartile of workers — people earning roughly less than $806 a week — slowed to an annual rate of 3.7 per cent in June, down from a peak of 7.5 per cent in late 2022, when post-pandemic labour shortages in industries such as hospitality were most acute. Wage growth has also slowed for higher earners but to a lesser extent.”
“Why Trump’s Firing Of The B.L.S. Commissioner Is So Damaging” (Financial Times). “Trump’s ire was directed at the large revisions to the May and June jobs numbers, which went from a previously reported respectable average of 145,500 new jobs per month to a more concerning 16,500. The revisions were unusually large — the largest since 1979, not counting the pandemic, according to economist Ernie Tedeschi. But revisions are a normal part of the statistical process and, in fact, one of its strengths in balancing timeliness and accuracy of data.”
“‘The Revisions Are Hard Evidence’: White House Struggles To Justify Firing Of BLS Chief Over Weak Jobs Numbers” (CNBC). “National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett on Sunday defended President Donald Trump’s sudden decision to fire the Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner, without citing specific evidence. Hassett repeatedly pointed to the revisions in Friday’s employment data to justify Trump’s firing of BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer, but did not provide data showing the latest jobs report was ‘rigged,’ as Trump claimed. ‘I mean, the revisions are hard evidence,” he said on NBC News, adding that there ‘have been a bunch of patterns that could make people wonder.’”
