March Jobs and Inflation: The dance between the economy with the Federal Reserve that is tasked with bringing down the persistent inflation might be finally seeing some signs of life, if the latest jobs number is any indication. Despite the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and numerous layoffs in the tech sector, businesses added a healthy 236,000 jobs in March, falling 3,000 shy of expectations. This could indicate that the economy has cooled just enough to avoid a serious recession while reining in escalating prices of goods and services. Construction and manufacturing were the losers last month, shedding about 14,000 jobs, while leisure and hospitality added the most with 72,000. However, this was the fewest jobs added to the sector that was hit worst in the past three years, and associations like the US Travel Association are cautiously sounding the alarm as the summer is heating up to be a robust travel period—one that hospitality might not be able to accommodate without being fully staffed. Airlines are still grappling with crew and pilot shortages, causing cancellations and delays ahead of the busy months ahead. As for inflation, the Fed hasn’t announced any new rate hikes, but business publication Bloomberg says that one more might be necessary to tamp things down.
Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Business Insider, Bloomberg
April Is Distracted Driving Month:Throughout April, The National Safety Council (NSC) is marking its Distracted Driving Awareness Month and calling attention to the known and sometimes overlooked ways that a person can lose their focus while behind the wheel. The NSC has put together a packet to help educate drivers on how they can avoid the common pitfalls of distractions—whether it’s coming from passengers or electronics in the vehicle or pedestrians or cyclists in blind zones. Download the information materials here.
Source: National Safety Council
And the Locations of the Political Conventions Are…: It’s going to be a hot summer for Chicagoland as both parties have named Midwest cities for their upcoming 2024 conventions. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) announced this week that it has chosen Chicago as its home base in 2024, beating out ATL and the Big Apple. The festivities will take place between The United Center (home of the Chicago Bulls) and McCormick Place August 19-22, 2024. The Republican National Committee (RNC) was first to name Milwaukee as its host city late last summer—just 100 miles north of Chicago—ending its fierce contest with Nashville. Last December, the RNC confirmed its dates for July 15-18. The events are expected to take place at the Fiserv Forum (home of the Milwaukee Bucks), which is great news for the city. The arena was originally selected to be the home of the 2020 Democratic National Convention until it was postponed a month and largely downsized due to COVID, with most events taking place virtually from the smaller Wisconsin Center. Charlotte, N.C., also lost the chance to host the RNC due to COVID.
Sources: DNC, RNC
[04.11.23]