遗失的世界

Job Market Shows Signs of Weakening as Consumers Turn Gloomy_我的网站

偷心俏冤家

一 |

The number of job openings fell to 8.8 million at the end of July, down from the prior month’s revised 9.1 million in a sign that the economy is downshifting, the Labor Department reported on Tuesday.

The drop brings the number about 2.5 million below the 11.4 million available jobs of a year ago.

Openings fell in professional and business services, down 198,000; health care and social assistance, off by 130,000; and state and local government, including education, where the combined losses totaled 129,000. There was a strong increase in information industry jobs, up by 101,000; and in transportation, warehousing and utilities, where openings increased by 75,000.

“Now it is taking a bit longer for jobseekers to find a job,” said Julia Pollak, chief economist for ZipRecruiter. “There’s meaningful slack in the job market, but it is still a historically tight job market. Overall, I still see the U.S. labor market as understaffed.”

The government will report the monthly jobs number for August on Friday with expectations for a gain of about 168,000 jobs.

“Investors should expect a softening labor report this Friday, further cementing the thesis that the Fed is getting close to finishing its tightening cycle,” said Jeffrey Roach, chief economist at LPL Financial.

Meanwhile, the Conference Board’s consumer confidence index for August found a pullback as Americans grew more concerned about rising prices of gasoline and groceries.

The present situation index – a reading of how consumers assess the current economy – fell to 144.8 from 153.0 in July. The expectations index, a forward-looking measure, declined to 80.2 from July’s bump to 88.

“Consumer confidence fell in August 2023, erasing back-to-back increases in June and July,” said Dana Peterson, chief economist at the business organization. “August’s disappointing headline number reflected dips in both the current conditions and expectations indexes. Write-in responses showed that consumers were once again preoccupied with rising prices in general, and for groceries and gasoline in particular.”

“The pullback in consumer confidence was evident across all age groups – and most notable among consumers with household incomes of $100,000 or more, as well as those earning less than $50,000,” Peterson added. “Confidence held relatively steady for consumers with incomes between $50,000 and $99,999.”

Consumers expected higher interest rates to come, while also lowering their assessment of the probability of a recession.

Also Tuesday, home prices rose 0.9% in June, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller index. Prices were unchanged on a year-over-year basis.

"U.S. home prices continued to increase in June 2023," said Craig J. Lazzara, Managing Director at S&P DJI. "Our National Composite rose by 0.9% in June, and it now stands only -0.02% below its all time peak from exactly one year ago. Our 10- and 20-City Composites likewise each gained 0.9% in June 2023, and stand -0.5% and -1.2%, respectively, below their June 2022 peaks.”

"As we've noted previously, the recovery in home prices is broadly based,” Lazzara added. “Prices rose in all 20 cities in June, both before and after seasonal adjustment. Over the last 12 months, 10 cities show positive returns. Otherwise said, half the cities in our sample now sit at all-time high prices.

“Today’s market offers buyers the frustrating combination of low inventory and high home prices,” said Realtor.com economic data analyst Hannah Jones. “Many existing homeowners remain on the sidelines of the market, content to stay put as mortgage rates reach 20-year highs.”

“As a result, home shoppers are seeing fewer existing homes for sale and facing more competition for the homes available,” Jones added. “Builders have started to pick up construction activity to fill this gap, but remain cautious as affordability challenges continue to stifle buyer demand.”

。

拜登政府近日宣布了对华新一轮增税措施，涉及金额超过100亿美元，主要针对七种产品，其中包括新能源车、锂电池、芯片等新兴生产力领域。部分国际经济学家将此举措视为美国对华经济战的2.0版本。在特朗普时代，特朗普发动的第一轮对华关税战持续升级，涉及3000亿美元的中国商品，最高加征关税幅度达到25%。

二 | 而如今，拜登政府的关税举措更为激进，例如对中国电动车的关税税率甚至高达100%，这几乎达到了疯狂的地步。

经过过去七年的历练，中国方面早已对底线思维进行了深入预估。

三 | 若不幸遭遇美国毫无理性的打击，我们应采取何种应对措施成为关键议题。内部循环足以支撑我们度过相当长的一段时期。

四 | 此外，值得注意的是，美国在某些领域如新三样的市场份额并不显著，反而在欧洲以及我们正在开拓的一带一路和金砖国家集团等市场中表现更为强劲。因此，若我们仅从当前中美贸易战2.0的角度去观察，可能会忽略更为重要的方面。实际上，当前最重要的是货币战与金融战，而贸易战更像是其掩护下的烟雾。

五 | 面对高额关税，中国大陆已明确表态，要求美国及时停止此类行为，而不仅仅是表达反对或采取其他措施。

六 |

在一周内，一项高效的反制措施或许会产生。在此过程中，还需准备应对“货币战争”和“金融战争”。当前，事件在日本已展开，日元汇率暴跌，日本陷入困境。在这种背景下，“中、日、韩”三国需重新思考应对策略。美国方面，只是在虚张声势，加征关税并无新意。

七 | 最终，这种压迫手段反而促使中国在某些领域的新兴产业获得发展，逐步自力更生，开拓其他市场。因此，中美贸易摩擦的重要性逐渐降低。

八 | 如同美元在国际金融收支、结算及储备货币占比方面，已呈现长期下滑趋势。问题的关键在于，这不是一朝一夕就能看到改变的，但长期趋势明显，可以聚焦于2035年和2049年的持久战。

实际上，美国的做法导致其最大的贸易伙伴中国与之疏离，进而疏离美国市场，此举无疑使美国自身成为受害者。

九 | 中国有能力寻找其他市场，如“一带一路”倡议所涵盖的地区，这些市场未来的发展潜力远超过现有范围。此外，若美国选择封杀中国的电动车产业，其未来的新能源汽车行业将面临巨大挑战。预计在2049年，美国可能仍在使用燃油车，电动车产业发展受到严重阻碍，这无疑对美国是一个巨大的打击。当前，电动车所使用的锂电池在原料及系统方面，中国拥有大量掌控权，美国无法完全摆脱对中国的依赖。因此，美国此次的举措不仅未能有效打击中国，反而可能对自身造成更大的损害，可谓是杀敌一千自损三千，自食其果。最后，此举还将对全球经济格局产生深远影响，特别是在“金融战”方面，可能引发一系列连锁反应和不确定性。