Two things are affecting this. One, it's summer and people need less energy. Two, the US economy is doing well but Europe is doing poorly. So, we're buying more stuff.
When the war in Ukraine is over, expect the trade deficit to get worse because Russia will be selling oil again. This will probably be a talking point during the elections.
I feel like whatever gains we saw in the market after the debt ceiling theater resolved will be reversed when the cpi report comes out. Employment rates seem super resilient also.
Employment rates are completely meaningless when jobs don't pay a living wage. 37% of Americans have two full time jobs now.
Every single jobs report wages have gone up. Very close to inflation.
Not disputing that wages aren’t fucked though.
Also the survey on “monster” isn’t specifically saying “full time” it just mentions two jobs. The two full time jobs part of the article is referring to TikTok stories. I’ll go with the department of labour on this.
There are plenty of other indicators showing that wages are generally inadequate. 64% of the people are just making their ends meet without being able to make any savings. These are slave wages where people are paid just enough to keep them working. Meanwhile, average person is up to over 100k in debt. These are not signs of a healthy and functioning economy.