Job Openings Plateau but Still Strong.
ICSC-Goldman Store Sales (week ended 9/6/2014)
– Store Sales week/week +0.7%. Previous was +0.0%
– Store Sales year/year +4.0%. Previous was +4.8%
Redbook (week ended 9/6/2014)
– Store Sales year/year +4.9%. Previous was +4.9%.
JOLTS (July 2014)
JOLTS is an acronym for Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey
– Job Openings 4,673,000. Previous was 4,675,000.
This had been going up and may have plateaued. This is still a strong number showing significant job openings. The problem is that there is skills mismatch between Job Openings and the people who are unemployed.
NFIB Small Business Optimism Index (August 2014)
– index level 96.1. Previous was 95.7.
This is a survey index of small businesses.