Rate Cut Odds, Jobs in Detail, 529, Kraft Heinz, and a candlemaker and a soapmaker walk into a bar...
And the Odds for a Rate Cut Just Went Up
The big news last week was the jobs report for July.
Last month, there were 79,000 new jobs.
This month, expectations were for 75,000 jobs.
They got 22,000.
And that is before revisions.
Speaking of adjustments…
The May jobs report was adjusted down from 144,000 to 19,000 and the June jobs report was adjusted down from 147,000 to 14,000.
Oddly enough, the July jobs report was adjusted up from 73,000 to 79,000.
These numbers will factor in the Federal Reserve meeting that begins September 16.
Oh, and the ADP numbers came in below expectations as well, with 54,000 new jobs vs. 75,000 expected.
And unemployment went from 4.2% to 4.3%.
In Other Job News
The civilian labor force numbers 170,778,000 and 7,384,000 are unemployed.
To be counted as unemployed, you need three criteria:
Without a job
Looking for work in the last four weeks
Available for work
Teens are the highest cohort at 13.9% unemployment
The cohort with the lowest unemployment is Asians at 3.6%.
The unemployment rate for folks 25 or older is 3.4%.
If you are over 25 and have a college degree, it’s 2.7%.
If you don’t have a high school degree, it’s 6.7%.
1,930,000 people have been unemployed for more than 27 weeks.
That’s the same category as Cousin Eddie.
Tax Talk
529 Plans – if you have kids, that number should be second on your monthly contribution list, right behind that other number, 401k.
Generally speaking – and talk to your CPA and/or financial advisor – here are some tips:
You can contribute up to $19,000 per year to each beneficiary.
The contributions are NOT tax-deductible on your federal return, but some states do allow a tax benefit. California is NOT one of them.
The funds can be used not only for college, but each beneficiary can pull $10,000 per year for K-12 school.
And you might be doing that if you live within the L.A. Unified School District.
Now, let’s say your kid realizes that getting a welding certification is a better deal; they can use those funds for apprenticeship programs.
And if they don’t use all the funds, they can be rolled over, tax-free, to a Roth IRA. As the Genie says, there are a few provisos, a couple of quid pro quos, so talk to somebody before you figure all this out.
Bits and Pieces
Kraft Heinz is splitting up. That marriage only lasted 10 years. Now the lawyers have to figure out who gets custody of Mac & Cheese.
And like many divorces, there are no winners, except the attorneys. In this case, the M&A attorneys. The stock was down 10% for the week. Ouch.
I guess they wanted to keep up with the next-door neighbor splitting up: Keurig Dr. Pepper, which is splitting up after only 7 years.
In good news, Macy’s showed positive same-store sales growth for the first time since 2022.
They had to close stores and make other adjustments, but the CEO hired in 2024 seems to be making a difference.
That stock was up 31% for the week. Hmm, has retail found its bottom?
The Story of William and James
William was an English candlemaker, and James was an Irish soapmaker.
They emigrated to the U.S. and both ended up in Cincinnati, Ohio.
As providence would have it, they connected by marrying sisters.
Olivia and Elizabeth Norris, to be sure. It was their father who thought his new sons-in-law should combine their businesses and partner together.
I mean, nothing is good enough for his little Olivia and Elizabeth.
So, on October 31, 1837, they formed a candle and soap-making company, with each putting in $3,569.47.
As near as I can tell, that is worth $120,100 today.
By 1859, their sales reached $1,000,000 and they had 80 employees. The main products were lard oil, followed by candles and soap.
That’s worth (roughly) $38,000,000 today.
When the Civil War started, they were the main supplier of soap for the Union army, to the tune of 1000 cases each day.
By that time, the next generation had come into the company. In 1879, the son of James created a soap that floated in water.
The name of that soap? Ivory.
The two immigrants? William Proctor and James Gamble.
And now you know the rest of the story.
Readers, we are essentially in the last quarter of the year. Look at your goals. Have you met them? If you haven’t, you have about 3 months to get it done, because after Thanksgiving…
Just having a plan for success increases the odds of your business being a success. I’m guessing Proctor and Gamble had a plan because they grew methodically over 30 years so when the opportunity for supplying the government presented itself, they were prepared. I also share that story because you never know what your business will turn into. I think Procter & Gamble had no idea that their company would rank 51 on the Fortune 500 and still be going strong 188 years later, but the plan they laid out for themselves probably put them on the right path.
Start planning.
