Economics

• The unemployment rate dropped in May. Is it reason to celebrate? Maybe we won’t sink deeper, but our economic woes are far from over. (NYT-subscription)
• Jerome Powell’s comments on Wednesday following the Federal Open Market Committee meeting reiterated the expectation that the employment woes will continue for awhile. (USA Today)
• Earlier this week the Fed announced the expansion of its Main Street Lending Program. (Fed Press Release)
• US Debt levels rose in the first quarter of 2020. (MarketWatch) Business debt grew 18.8%, the fastest rate on record.
• Steven Mnuchin, while claiming we couldn’t afford another shutdown, did not rule out additional congressional stimulus. (CNBC)
• And Thursday’s report on unemployment claims of 1.5 million, while lower than the previous week, are still significant. And continued claims are still over 20 million. (CNN)

Investing

•  After all the market turmoil through the pandemic, it is now about back to where we started 2020. (Wealth of Common Sense)
• And Thursday, it wasn’t. Corona virus spikes, Fed’s Powell press conference, and Mnuchin’s comments combined to drive the largest market drop since mid-March. (Yahoo Finance)
• How much of this market activity/run up is due to day traders? (MarketWatch)
• Many individuals have started trading on Robinhood. The biggest winners on this app took a beating Thursday. (CNBC)

And today (Friday)…the market was on its way back up.

Personal Finance/Housing

• The CFPB has issued guidance on protection for renters during the Covid-19 pandemic. (Consumerfinance.gov)
• This research out of the Cleveland Fed looks at housing vouchers, meant to turn neighborhoods into “opportunity zones,” but vouchers don’t seem to be enough to get the landlords to “bite.” Cleveland Fed

Higher Ed

• What will 2020 incoming classes look like? Will numbers be up or down? (Inside Higher Ed)
• What will the 20-21 academic calendar look like? More schools are announcing their plans. (Inside Higher Ed 2)
• What will admissions look like for the high school class of 2021? College admissions officers are trying to figure that out. (WSJ-subscription) (Today Show)
• Many schools will drop SAT/ACT requirements for next year, including schools like UVA, UPenn, Cal Tech and Dartmouth! (NPR)

Living

• During this pandemic, I ponder daily the risk, necessity, and benefit of every activity outside of my house. An ER doctor puts a framework around his thought process, which you might find helpful as you navigate the coming months. (Slate)
•  The Economist 1843 magazine ran this interesting article on the history of the office, pondering what the office of the future may look like, if it still exists.

About the Author