Labor

With the Services economy now joining the manufacturing sector in recession - with both employment components collapsing - one may be surprised to see initial jobless claims hovering back near 42-year lows...

Notice what happend in Q1 2015...

But then again - if you spend long enough seasonally-adjusting the data, anything is possible. Of course, for the cheerleaders over the 'solid' jobs data, this is another confirmation that everything is awesome and it's time to hike rates again.

At least 20 people have been quarantined after an employee opened envelope with a suspicious powdery substance at the Customs and Border Protection office in Alameda, California. An employee reported feeling ill immediately after opening the envelope on Wednesday afternoon. Two others also had a bad reaction, and were treated at the scene. One person was reportedly taken to the hospital. According to KTVU : Emergency crews quarantined approximately 20 employees who were in the vicinity when the envelope was opened. That quarantine was lifted around 3:30 pm.

One week ago, when we commented on the latest weekly update from Credit Suisse's very well hooked-in energy analyst James Wicklund, one particular phrase stuck out when looking at the upcoming contraction of Oil and Gas liquidity: "while your borrowing base might be upheld, there will be minimum liquidity requirements before capital can be accessed. It is hitting the OFS sector as well. As one banker put it, "we are looking to save ourselves now."

Of all the indicators that the Fed has presented to justify its rate hike mentality and to validate that the US economy remains on a growth path despite clear recessionary signals from both the manufacturing sector and the dramatic tightening in financial conditions in recent months, Yellen's preferred metric also happens to be the most lagging one: nonfarm payrolls and the unemployment rate, both of which supposedly signal the collapsing slack in the labor market and a jump in wages that has been "just around the corner" for years.

In what could be the biggest blow yet for her campaign, the leader of the America's largest federation of unions (counting 12 million active and retired "everyday Americans") has chosen not to endorse Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders.

Clinton has racked up endorsements from 18 unions, according to The Hill, including the Service Employees International Union and the National Education Association, while Sanders has garnered just three union endorsements.