An extremely tight labor market, coupled with historically low unemployment and high demand for workers put upward pressure on wages and prices, with inflation reaching 6.2%.
It was hardly a slow-news weekend as the U.S. took some coercive action on the Chinese spy balloon hovering in its airspace, and Turkey and Syria suffered a horrendous earthquake that claimed hundreds of lives. On the business side of things, Apple Inc.
Prominent market commentator Jim Cramer reportedly said the January jobs report shows the economy will remain resilient, despite the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes.<
Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) and Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ: META) shares have surged significantly since the beginning of 2023. While Tesla gained over 74% this year, Meta has surged over 51%.
Cathie Wood of ARK Investment Management reportedly said she won’t be surprised if the Federal Reserve cuts rates this year and that she believes the bigger risk is deflation.
Wharton Professor of Finance Jeremy Siegel has been beating the drum on inflation in recent months, urging the Federal Reserve to cast aside lagging indicators.
Now that consumer prices are coming down, he says there's only one indicator left standing between the Fed and a pause.