Data: Census Bureau ; Chart: Neil Irwin/Axios American consumers have powered the economy forward this year. In July, they took a breather. Why it matters: While the underlying trend in consumer demand appears solid, retail sales hit an air pocket last month, suggesting a bumpier path ahead for overall growth. - Combined with a weak jobs report last week and two subdued inflation readings this week, it points to the Federal Reserve having room to be patient on potential interest rate increases this fall. Driving the news: Retail sales fell 0.6% in July, the weakest performance in more than a year and well below the 0.1% gain analysts expected. - Excluding gas stations and auto dealers, there was still a 0.3% decline in sales, meaning…
Data: Bureau of Labor Statistics; Note: Core white-collar is the sum of employment in financial activities, information, and professional and business services sectors; Chart: Neil Irwin/Axios The market for many types of white-collar professional workers is bad . The overall U.S. job market is pretty healthy . There is less of a contradiction here than it might seem. The big picture: These are gloomy times for many office workers — their employers shedding payroll, their livelihoods threatened by AI. But the jobs seemingly under the greatest threat right now amount to a small share of overall employment. - Moreover, it isn't historically unusual for major sectors of the economy to shed jobs even as the overall labor market remains…
Data: Bureau of Labor Statistics; Note: "White-collar core" includes finance, insurance, information, and professional and business services; Chart: Axios Visuals Usually, when the economy grows, so does employment in the kinds of office jobs that form the backbone of modern corporate life. It hasn't been true lately, and that may solve a key mystery of the 2020s' economy. The big picture: While overall employment trends have been steady, companies have successfully squeezed more out of a falling number of workers in the sectors that are the major sources of white-collar office jobs. - These sectors — finance, insurance, information, and professional and business services — normally add jobs steadily outside of recessions. In the last…