Stock-market investors may take their cues from a series of important events in the week ahead, including the Federal Reserve’s monetary-policy meeting, a closely-watched December employment report and an onslaught of earnings from megacap technology names, which all promise insight into the state of the economy and interest-rate outlook. The benchmark S&P 500 index SPX … Read more
Employers hired at a solid pace in December, capping a year of steady gains for a job market that continues to defy expectations and remains a bright spot in a gradually cooling economy. The U.S. economy added 216,000 jobs last month with most industries increasing employment, the Labor Department reported Friday. That was larger than … Read more
A gradual cooling of the still-solid labor market extended into November, renewing optimism the economy is still on a glide path for a soft landing. Employers added a seasonally adjusted 199,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department reported Friday, slower than earlier in the year but consistent with gains before the pandemic. When excluding the … Read more
America’s tiniest employers have the highest share of job openings on record—more than one in five available positions—a sign the labor market might be tilting toward the little guy. Solid demand for workers from small establishments, such as mom-and-pop businesses and many franchise locations, stands in contrast to a cooling labor market more broadly. It … Read more