Not to worry, just the army announcing layoffs:
Challenger Job-Cut Report
Highlights
A major Army cutback made for an outsized 105,696 layoff count in July. The Army said it is cutting 57,000 jobs over the next two years (note that Challenger counts layoffs at the time of announcement, not when layoffs actually occur). Heavy layoffs, at 18,891, were also announced in computer & electronics.
These remain at historically low levels:
US weekly jobless claims total 270,000 vs 273,000 estimate By Robert Galbraith
August 6 (Reuters)
By Josh Mitchell
July 1 (Wall Street Journal)
The U.S. trade gap with other countries grew 7% in June to $43.8 billion, as imports climbed steadily while exports continued to slip. The U.S. trade gap with the European Union reached an all-time high in June as imports from Europe rose. The trade gap with Mexico also set a record. The U.S. trade deficit with China grew 9.8% in the first six months of 2015 compared with the same period last year,Wednesday’s report showed. The deficit with Japan grew 4.1%. The rise in U.S. imports was due to higher demand for consumer goods, particularly pharmaceutical items, and industrial supplies, including crude oil. Auto imports were the highest on record.
This is how the Saudis set price via altering their posted spreads to various benchmarks:
Historically low levels and still growing at lower rates than prior cycles, so adding a lot less to GDP.
My narrative is that it’s all about a lack of income from a shortfall of private and/or public deficit spending:
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