Still Hiring

The labor market continues to defy gravity.

On Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported September crushed expectations:

• Employers added 254,000 jobs (compared to the expected 150,000)

• Unemployment dropped to 4.1% (down from 4.2% in August)

• Underemployment (part-time workers wanting more hours) declined for the first time in a year

It has economists whispering more loudly that the Federal Reserve may pull off a “soft landing,” (reducing inflation without collapsing the labor market).

The economy also breathed a sigh of relief as ports from Maine to Texas reopened Friday after a three-day strike that threatened to disrupt the supply of everything from bananas to cars. Dock employers agreed to give dockworkers a 62% raise over six years. The strike is suspended until January as negotiations continue on other issues, including the use of automation on docks.

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ETERNAL PERSPECTIVE
Our hope is never contingent on an economic outcome; it’s much more secure than that. Regardless of whether things get worse or better during your lifetime, everything eventually ends well for followers of Christ.

“I know how to make do with little, and I know how to make do with a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content—whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me.”
Philippians 4:12-13 (CSB)