Runners may be taking to the streets of New York City on Sunday to run the annual five-borough marathon, but it's been marathon and a half already this week for the CNN economics team.
In case you haven't been keeping up with our coverage – which is honestly rude and offensive – I'll give you the quick Cliff Notes of the week's news:
We learned that:
- The Fed is continuing to take a literal slow and steady wins the race approach by holding interest rates steady for another meeting.
- Even though the economy is doing really well, Americans aren't feeling so gung-ho.
- Wages are still rising, but at a slower pace compared to a year ago.
- There are a lot of jobs that employers looking to fill — almost 9.6 million to be more precise.
- But layoffs are on the rise as evidenced by weekly jobless claims data.
The last lap
The finish line to the weekend is oh so close. But alas, for whatever reason, the Department of Labor decided a while ago it would make the first Friday of every month a little more painful for economics reporters by releasing its monthly unemployment report.
Tomorrow is, in fact, the first Friday of November which means we'll be getting new October jobs data at 8:30 am ET.
The September jobs report, which was released last month, was somewhat of a shocker, with a surprise 336,000 positions added — nearly double what economists had predicted, CNN's Alicia Wallace wrote. For the October report, economists are expecting a softer 180,000 job gains.
As Wallace points out, the big question hanging over economists' heads is: To what degree did the massive labor strikes by workers in the auto, entertainment and health care industries distort the month's hiring total?
It's not quite so straight forward, though. More on that in a story Elisabeth wrote last month.
Speaking of strikes...
The first United Auto Workers union vote by rank-and-file members was 82% in favor of the tentative labor deal that ended the union's strike at Ford last week, my colleague, Chris Isidore, reported. That, he says, is an early sign that the recent labor deals will be able to get the membership support they need.
Meanwhile, CVS and Walgreens employees who are mostly not unionized, staged a three-day walkout this week.
And another potential strike is looming on the Las Vegas Strip with thousand of hotel workers threatening to walk off the job if deals aren't reached by November 10
KEEPING IN CASE NEEDED
No one loves the holiday time more than retailers. With holiday sales accounting for nearly one fifth of retailers' annual sales, all they want for Christmas is you and your hard earned dollars.
But this year they're going to have to fight extra hard.
Although holiday sales are still expected to increase by up to 4% this year, not adjusted for inflation, it would represent a slow down from last year, when holiday sales grew 5.4%. That's according to new projections the National Retail Federation made.
That's a stark contrast to numerous recent reports that show that consumer spending is ramping up. So why then might consumers be skimping on the holidays?
Taking a step back
A lot of the savings that consumers built up during the pandemic because they got stimulus checks and/or weren't taking vacations, going to concerts, dining out, etc. are drying up.
At the same time, racking up credit card debt is costing a lot more now that interest rates are at the highest level in 22 years. Add the resumption of student loan payments in the mix and you have yourself a perfect storm for cutting back on holiday spending.
"There are some headwinds impacting consumers," NRF CEO Matthew Shay said on a call with reporters, my colleague, Nathaniel Meyersohn, reported. "Consumers are becoming more cautious," Shay added.
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