Trade and Employment this Week

September 4, 2018

Trade and Employment this Week Photo

With summer coming to a close, the markets have a lot to digest over the next few months, begging the following questions: 

  • Will the U.S. economy continue to grow at a robust rate?
  • Will stocks make new highs as earnings expand?
  • Will the Federal Reserve continue to gradually raise interest rates?
  • Will the yield curve invert?
  • Will trade conflicts and geopolitical events derail the economy?

These questions and many others will be on the forefront of investors’ minds. This week is off to a fast start trade-wise with the potential for an escalation in the competing tariffs between the U.S. and China, as well as continued U.S.-Canada NAFTA negotiations. I continue to believe that trade issues will stay in control and ultimately have the potential to help U.S. long-term growth prospects.

We will also see the August jobs report this week. Expectations are for approximately 192,000 new jobs and for the jobless rate to fall to 3.8%. Markets will be watching closely for any clues regarding hourly earnings, as wage gains have been elusive.

Tags: Yield curve | NAFTA | trade tensions | Federal Reserve | Jobs report

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