The
latest nonfarm payrolls report released on Aug.2 revealed an addition of 162,000
jobs created, compared to a downwardly revised 188,000 in June. Economists expected the latest report to show
175,000 jobs created. The average
workweek dropped 34.4 hours from 34.5 and average hourly earnings declined
0.1%. Aggregate wages fell 0.3%, “which
will put substantial downside pressure on retail sales growth,” according to
Briefing.com.
Yet
despite the negative economic news, the U.S. retail economic trend according to
the New Economy Index (NEI) remains up.
The NEI is a stock price composite of the leading retail, business
transportation and employment agency stocks.
It’s currently just below a 6-year high, having long since surpassed its
previous all-time high from 2007. While
it’s certainly possible we’re witnessing the beginnings of an economic topping
process, it’s still too early to assume the worst.
Until the uptrend in the NEI is broken, we can assume the economic outlook is still positive despite the bumps beginning to appear on the road.
