By Mike Larson
One message I have continually harped on lately is that the U.S. economy (and the U.K. economy) are doing better and better these days. This is despite a bunch of downbeat talk from overly pessimistic Wall Street economists (and some more-dovish Fed members). I chronicled recently how report after report on manufacturing, job growth, and consumer and business confidence have all come in at the strongest levels in years (2005, 2006, 2007, etc.).
Then this morning, we got the latest “JOLTS” jobs report from the Labor Department. This is a favorite of Fed Chair Janet Yellen, and it showed there were 4.671 million job openings in the U.S. in June. Not only was that much higher than the 4.577 million reading in May, and well above the 4.6 million forecast, but it was also the best reading going all the way back to February 2001!
This continues to point toward an improving job market, and that is yet another reason why the Fed is way “offsides” with monetary policy.
(Mike’s regular Money and Markets column will be published after the market close today.)
