U.S. Economic and Market Highlights

The Economy:

• Improving economic data has helped stocks continue to climb despite daily new COVID-19 cases in the U.S.
• The U.S. labor market added 4.8 million jobs in June versus economists’ expectation for 2.9 million, while the unemployment rate fell to 11.1% in June from 13.3% in May. Read more →

U.S. Economic and Market Highlights

The Economy

• Most developed countries saw Gross Domestic Product (GDP) turn negative in the first quarter due to the economic impact caused by widespread shutdowns to ward-off the Coronavirus outbreak. It is almost certain that the second quarter GDP will be negative in most countries, triggering a technical global recession.

Read more →

U.S. Economic and Market Highlights

CORONA VIRUS RESPONSE

• For the short-term, the market remains fixated on the virus outbreak as well as policy response. Shutting down the global economy is not a viable long-term solution. The current economic “pause” across developed market geographies should buy time to slow down the spread of the virus, and enable governments to cushion the slowdown with stimulus.

Read more →