Disconnect between Education and Jobs?

NFIB Small Business Optimism Index (September 2015)

– Level  96.1. Previous was 95.9.

Business optimism should translate into jobs but recent Employment Reports have disappointed.  We are seeing, to some extent, a mismatch between job openings and the skills that young people have upon leaving college.  Worse yet, we are seeing too many people graduate with college degrees which give them no skills for the jobs which exist and instead leave them with significant debt.  A Bloomberg piece of today states that the World Bank believes that this is a worldwide problem.

 

Redbook Chain Store Sales (week ended 10/10/2015)

– Store Sales year/year  +1.1%. Previous was +0.7%

As time goes on the percent of Retail Sales which are done online increases.  In 2ndQ2015 it was 7.2% of all Retail Sales. Chain Store sales will slowly become a less important metric.

This move to online has negative implications for retail chains and shopping malls.