In today\u2019s Steady\nInvestor, we dive into current news and key factors that we believe are\ncurrently impacting the market, such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Hot Jobs\u2019 Market is\nDesperate for Takers \u2013 <\/strong>The number of job openings in the United States hit\na record 9.3 million in April, according to the Labor Department. The demand\nfor workers underscores the race for businesses to come fully back online as\nthe economy heats up. The number of job openings nearly matches the 9.8 million\nAmericans who remain unemployed and looking for work, signaling we could see\nthe unemployment rate come down further in the coming months. Interestingly\nenough, however, the rate at which workers quit their jobs \u2013 which is a sign of\nconfidence in the jobs market \u2013 also hit a record in April. Many workers likely\nbelieve they can find a better job at a higher wage, in such a competitive\nenvironment for labor. Most job openings currently are in areas of the economy\nlike food service, hospitality, tourism, and warehousing, where wages are\ngenerally low but could see some upward pressure. In the meantime, teenagers\nhave been increasingly sweeping up many of the low-wage jobs. The unemployment\nrate for 16- to 19-year-olds fell to 9.6%, which is its lowest level since\n1953. The share of teenagers who work also touched a decade-plus high, at\n33.2%.1<\/sup> <\/p>\n\n\n\n ___________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n Set Yourself Up for Long-Term Investing Success!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Investing is already an emotional process, especially when\nvolatility comes into play. A bull market can be as exhilarating as a bear market\nis terrifying (ask any investor who went through 2008). But we believe that\navoiding emotional reactions can result in achieving your financial goals without\ncompromising your long-term returns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s important to maintain perspective during rough periods\nso you don\u2019t overreact. If you have $500,000 or more to invest, get our free\nguide, How to Avoid Emotional Investing<\/em>. It provides our advice, based\non decades of experience, to help you navigate through turbulent times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Download Our Guide, <\/a>How to Avoid Emotional Investing<\/a><\/em>.<\/a>2<\/a><\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n ___________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wages\nare on the Rise \u2013 <\/strong>Many argue that the supply\/demand\nimbalance in the labor market is due to employers paying too-low wages. Many\nbusinesses are responding in kind: the average hourly earnings rose 0.5%\nfollowing a 0.7% increase in April, a reasonably robust pace for month-on-month\nreadings. The sectors with the biggest shortages in workers are seeing the most\nwage pressures, which makes economic sense. In leisure and hospitality, for\nexample, hourly earnings rose 1.3% in May from April, and are 7% higher than\nthey were in February 2020, when the pandemic hit. At restaurants and bars,\nhourly pay for non-manager employees is up 6.3% from February 2020. If\ncompanies hope to fill some of the record 9.3 million job openings, they may\nneed to follow suit.3<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n Keystone\nXL Pipeline Project Goes Offline \u2013 <\/strong>The long saga of the\nKeystone XL pipeline project may officially be winding down. This week, the\ndeveloper of the pipeline, Canada\u2019s TC Energy Corp., said they are scrapping\nthe project. The company gave little information about its full rationale for\nabandoning the project, but its failure to secure a critical construction\npermit was likely part of its last straw. The company said it would be shifting\nits focus to building businesses in shipping and storing natural gas, liquid\nfuels, and power to align itself with the U.S.\u2019s shifting energy market.4<\/sup><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n China\nis Experiencing Inflation, Too \u2013 <\/strong>We have written many\ntimes about inflationary pressures in the U.S., but the world\u2019s second-largest economy\nis feeling it too. In May, China\u2019s factory-gate prices rose by the most in 13\nyears, and its producer-price index also jumped 9% from a year earlier. China\nsays that rising price pressures in crude oil, iron ore, and metals are fueling\nthe pressure, and businesses around the world are growing concerned that rising\ninput costs could trickle through the supply chain. China\u2019s government has been\ninstituting guardrails to try and contain the issue, by issuing rules against\ncommodity\/input hoarding and attempting to set price controls. The key issue to\nmonitor going forward is if these price pressures persist throughout the year,\nor if they are just short-term spikes corresponding to the full economic\nreopening in the U.S.5<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n It is impossible to control the highs and lows of the market. But there are ways you can manage the highs and lows of your own emotions and stay focused on your long-term goals. In our view, staying invested is key, especially when times get tough! If you have $500,000 or more to invest, get our free guide, How to Avoid Emotional Investing<\/em>.6<\/sup> It provides our advice, based on decades of experience, to help you navigate through turbulent times. Click on the link below to get your copy today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Keystone XL pipeline scrapped, U.S. job openings at record high, rising input costs fuel Chinese inflation too<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":7426,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[71,73],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-private-client-group","category-steady-investors-week"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9646"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9646\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10376,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9646\/revisions\/10376"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}