First Republic is now JP Morgan Chase, the Fed increased interest rates 25 basis points as expected, and the question circulating after this week’s economic data related to the labor market is, “Is this what a soft-landing looks like?”

Banking

• The First Republic failure is described here (CNBC) and the deal is described here (Reuters).
• For a more in-depth description of both the failure and the deal, check out this EconExtra on the topic.
• Bank failures seem to be causing more concern among people about the safety of their money in banks, according to a new Gallup poll.

Economics

• The FOMC decided to raise interest rates once again by 25 basis points, as expected given the persistent inflation data. For more on the announcement and analysis of underlying messages from it and the Powell press conference, these two articles are helpful (Reuters) (Forbes).
• For a classroom activity related to the Fed meeting, announcement and press conference, check out this NGPF blog post.
• The European Central Bank also raised rates 25 basis points this week. (Reuters)
• April jobs report came in higher than expected, but both February and March were revised downward. Unemployment sits at 3.4%, and average wages were up 4.4% year/year. (CNBC)
• The ADP jobs report came out on Wednesday as (and ended up being close to the BLS number today. (CNBC) Steve Liesman breaks it down in this clip.
• Jobless claims for last week came out on Thursday. New claims for the week were up slightly, but continuing claims were down. (AP)
• If you would like to dig deeper into the jobs data, check out this report/tool from the Atlanta Fed that looks at the breakdown on all of the BLS data, including data by state.
• There are still more jobs than people to fill them. Where are jobs available? (USA Today)

Investing

• So exactly how do interest rates impact stock valuations? A Wealth of Common Sense explains.
• Berkshire Hathaway’s Buffet claims that his success is the result of roughly twelve good decisions over six decades. (WSJ-subscription may be required)

Taxes

• As people continue to work remotely following pandemic shutdowns, states with high income tax burdens are seeing big losses in their income as remote workers more out of state. (CNBC)

About the Author

Beth Tallman

Beth Tallman entered the working world armed with an MBA in finance and thoroughly enjoyed her first career working in manufacturing and telecommunications, including a stint overseas. She took advantage of an involuntary separation to try teaching high school math, something she had always dreamed of doing. When fate stepped in once again, Beth jumped on the opportunity to combine her passion for numbers, money, and education to develop curriculum and teach personal finance at Oberlin College. Beth now spends her time writing on personal finance and financial education, conducts student workshops, and develops finance curricula and educational content. She is also the Treasurer of Ohio Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy.

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