US Labor Market Meltdown, EU Trade War on China, Cash vs. Investments

Weekly Recap as of November 3, 2024

Here are some recommendations for what you might have missed this week.

🌏 Labor Market Meltdown: October Jobs Report Shows a -112,000 Revision to Prior Months as Hiring Halts

• October added 12,000 jobs (absolutely insignificant and likely to be revised)

• August was revised down by 81,000, from +159,000 to +78,000

• September was revised down by 31,000, from +254,000 to +223,000

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🌏 42% Surge in Layoffs Signals US Labor Market Is Tanking

• The share of workers voluntarily quitting their jobs dropped to 1.9 percent in September, the lowest since the 2020 pandemic. Outside of the pandemic, this is the lowest level in 9 years and the largest decline since the 2008 Financial Crisis.

• The hiring rate decreased from 4.6 percent to 3.5 percent, the lowest since April 2020.

  

• There were 7.4 million job openings in the US in September, the lowest number of openings since January 2021

  

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🌏 G7 vs. BRICS: EU's Disaster, Economic Decline & Political Crisis, Rise of Global South

I invited Prof. Steve Hanke for a conversation about the decline of the G7 and the rise of the Global South.

Dr. Hanke commented that the European Union’s collapse is largely driven by its biggest economy, Germany, sabotaging itself with the ban on imports of Russia’s natural resources that are vital for its industrial capacity as well as its short-sighted domestic and foreign policies. Dr. Hanke noted Germany is a “disaster” in the near term as its de-industrialization is just beginning. Further, we discussed the US uniparty system, political gain vs economic reason, and the role of natural resources in the rise of the global South. This is a must-watch interview for those interested in global economics.

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🌏 Federal government continues to spend, spend, spend…

Government spending spiked 9.7 percent in Q3 2024 quarter over quarter.