Priya Patel
TLDR:
- This month’s craze was Stanley brand insulated water tumblers released in several new colors – they were retailing at $45 apiece, but are being sold on the secondary market for hundreds of dollars.
- The labor market closed out 2023 with an addition of 216,000 positions and unemployment holding steady at 3.7 percent.
- Given the ongoing resiliency in the labor market, the stock market got off to a sluggish start for 2024.
- The strong economy is indicated by how much money people seem willing to pointlessly throw away, exemplified by the high secondary market prices paid for limited edition items.
- 2023 saw close to 2.7 million jobs added to the US economy, making it one of the most robust years for job gains so far in the new millennium.
The December 2023 job report surprised economists by showing the addition of 216,000 positions and unemployment holding steady at 3.7 percent. This exceeds expectations, as the consensus had been that only 170,000 jobs would be added to end the year. In total, the US economy added close to 2.7 million jobs in 2023, making it one of the most robust years for job gains. In terms of the stock market, it had a sluggish start for 2024 due to traders expecting rate cuts from the Federal Reserve. However, with the labor market holding strong, there is no particular urgency for the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates.
One personal favorite economic indicator of the author is the amount of money people seem willing to pointlessly throw away. This is exemplified by the recent craze for Stanley brand insulated water tumblers released in several new colors. These water bottles were already overpriced at $45 apiece, but they have been selling on the secondary market for hundreds of dollars. This shows that the strong economy is not going away anytime soon. The author notes that this hypercapitalism trend is a reflection of our rapidly degenerating culture.
