Job growth in US falls to its lowest point in 12 months
In the most recent job data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the US economy added 390,000 new jobs in May 2022, the lowest in twelve months.
However, considering the impact that rising food and energy prices have had on the global supply chain, the result captured in the non-farm payroll still beat the consensus figure of 325,000 expected jobs.
According to tradingeconomics, the figure, which reflected a 0.5 percent increase in job growth below the pre-pandemic level, demonstrated that the economy is returning to full employment.
The service sector that was most hit during the COVID-19 period showed the most growth as it recorded the most new jobs with 84,000 people moving into the leisure and hospitality sector, while food services and drinking places gained 46,000 new jobs.
Others, such as accommodation, professional and business services, transportation, and warehousing, gained 21,000, 75,000, and 18,000 respectively.
The non-farm payroll (NFP) data was as expected, as the US dollar gained temporary strength against other major currency pairs today, while some US stocks and other fixed income financial securities of the US government gained massive buying attention following this result.
Wall Street ends week on losing note
The major stock markets in the United States of America ended trading for the week on a losing note. Leaving the Dow Jones drifting nearly 350 basis points or 1.05 percent lower than its previous day close, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq followed the Dow 30 the downward path to loss nearly 1.63 percent and 2.54 percent or 68.28 basis point and 304.21 basis points respectively.
Despite the growth in employment as shown in the latest non-farm payroll report by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics supporting the Jerome Powell monetary tightening plan, the stock markets were less enthusiastic.
Earlier, the Fed Vice President Lael Brainard had stated clearly that the Fed would stick with its current rate-hike plan of a 50 basis points shift month-on-month until it can contain inflation which is at its highest in nearly forty years.
Some of the biggest losers in the stock markets yesterday were Tesla Inc whose shares plunged more than 9 percent after according to tradingeconomics, “its CEO Elon Musk had threaten to cut the electric vehicle maker’s workforce by 10 percent amid a super bad feeling about the economy.”
Others include Novavax Inc which closed trading losing 5.21 percent of its market value.
APC disqualifies 10 presidential aspirants
No fewer than 10 presidential aspirants vying to represent the All Progressive Congress (APC) in the forthcoming general election have been disqualified by the screening committee of the party.
On Friday, June 3, 2022, John Odigie-Oyegun, the screening committee chairman, disclosed this after submitting the committee report to the National Chairman of the party, Abdullahi Adamu.
The former governor of Edo state, understanding the tension and heightened pressure surrounding the pre-election mood, did not disclose the names of those disqualified.
After the major opposition party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), chose Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to represent the party in the forthcoming general election, the party doubled its attention on screening the 23 presidential aspirants, an exercise which took place at its national headquarters in Abuja on Monday and Tuesday.
In trying to cut down the number of aspirants and choose the best candidate to represent the party, Oyegun, disclosed that all the candidates met the ‘basic constitution’ requirement, but however, the panel had to shortlist some aspirants.
An excited Oyegun used the opportunity of presenting the committee report to applaud the youth who participated in the process, believing that the youth have shown resilience and a willingness to participate actively in the political process.
“And on that basis (Constitution), every single member or aspirant that presented himself qualified because it was basic and simple. But we are in the governing party and we are keen on continuing the process of replacing—at a proper time—our president with another member of the party.” he said.
He, however, refused to mention the names of those disqualified, leaving that to the National Working Committee of the party. “It is on that basis that we made our final shortlist. I don’t want to read the names, which I think I would leave to you (Chairman), but we have a shortlist. We brought the number severely down to 13.
On the issue of a consensus candidate, the former National Chairman revealed that out of the 23 candidates contending to be the party flagbearer, only one insisted that it must be either him or a contested primary.
“We engaged every aspirant on the issue of consensus and it was a pleasant surprise that 99 per cent agreed that the party is supreme and whatever the party finally decides, with proper consultations, they were likely to accept it.” “There is only one person that said I will accept consensus as long as it is based on me,” he said.
Read also: Russia-Ukraine war slows economic recovery of Sub-Saharan Africa – IMF
Inflation in Turkey reaches its fastest level since 1998 with surge past 73%.
The continued rise in food and energy prices driven primarily by the Russia-Ukraine war pushed Turkey’s inflation to its highest level since 1998.
This rise in inflation for the month of May was also a function of an extremely loose monetary policy where raising the interest rate tried to curb the pressures of inflation but ended up weakening the local currency (the Turkish Lira).
According to information from the Turkish Statistical Institute, the consumer prices moved 3.5 percent higher from its April figure of 70 percent to close at 73.5 percent for the month of May.
Furthermore, information from the institute revealed that monthly inflation was almost 3 percent, compared with the median estimate of 4 percent. This is according to Bloomberg.
Meanwhile, President Recep Tayyip of Turkey has always insisted that high-interest rates have always driven inflation rather than deal with it.
Putin ready to free up Ukrainian grain exports, says Senegal president
The President of Senegal, Macky Sall said on Friday after a brief meeting with Vladimir Putin of Russia that the Russian President has agreed to plea to free up Ukrainian grain export.
President Sall said that he pleaded with the Russian leader to reconsider his position over the blockage as his action has resulted to a global food crisis that is hitting the continent of Africa the hardest.
On his Twitter page, President Sall said after his private meeting with Putin in his role as the Chairman of the African Union, “President Putin has expressed to us his willingness to facilitate the export of Ukrainian cereals,”
Sall also informed the public that Russia was also looking forward to exporting some of its own wheat and fertiliser. However, no condition to accept Sall’s plea was made by the Russian president, who had asked the West to lift sanctions placed on it.
Africa is heavily dependent on grain supplies from Russia and Ukraine that have been badly disrupted by the war.
