BONUS: The Economy Added 115,000 Jobs. Consumer Confidence Just Hit a 74-Year Low. Let’s Unpack This.
Afford Anything | Get Smarter With MoneyShow Notes
The US economy added 115,000 jobs in April -- and the numbers look solid on the surface.
But dig a little deeper and you'll find a tech sector in freefall, a housing market frozen in place, and consumer sentiment that hit a 74-year low.
This bonus episode breaks down the May jobs report, which came out a week late because the Bureau of Labor Statistics pushed its release from the first Friday to the second Friday of the month.
The job gains were concentrated in healthcare, transportation, warehousing, and retail. Healthcare alone added 37,000 jobs, driven largely by nursing facilities and home health care services for an aging population.
Retail gains clustered in discount stores and warehouse clubs - not department stores or electronics retailers - which tells you consumers are spending more carefully.
Tech got hit hard. The information sector lost another 13,000 jobs in April and is now down 342,000 jobs - about 11 percent - from its November 2022 peak.
People working part-time because they can't find full-time work jumped by 445,000 in a single month.
Consumer sentiment is at its lowest point in 74 years of University of Michigan tracking - worse than 2008, worse than the inflation of the 1970s.
One reason: gas prices. There's a psychological outsized effect to standing at a pump watching the total climb every week, versus an invisible mortgage adjustment buried in a monthly bank statement.
The housing market didn't get its usual spring bounce. Existing home sales ticked up just 0.2 percent between March and April. Inventory rose 5.8 percent, but at 4.4 months of supply, the market still needs roughly 30 percent more inventory to reach balance.
Median sale price sits at $417,700, up less than 1 percent year over year. Homes are averaging 32 days on market - giving buyers more negotiating leverage than they've had in years.
Timestamps:
(00:00) April jobs report: 115,000 new jobs, but tech takes a hit
(02:38) Jobs data matters more than the stock market
(03:14) Where jobs grew: healthcare, transportation,warehousing, retail
(05:14) Consumer sentiment hits 74-year low
(07:46) Why gas prices hurt more than other costs
(11:20) Tech sector down 342,000 jobs from 2022 peak
(11:52) Part-time workers up 445,000 in a single month
(13:38) Housing market: no spring rebound
(15:16) Inventory up, but still 30 percent below a balanced market
(16:16) Housing market frozen - not crashing, not skyrocketing
(17:13) Golden handcuffs: why sellers aren't selling
(18:23) Why buyers have more negotiating power now
Enroll in our course, "Your First Rental Property" while the doors are open! https://affordanything.com/enroll
Share this episode with a friend, colleagues, and your postal person: https://affordanything.com/firstfridaymay2026
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
More from Afford Anything | Get Smarter With Money
#760: A couple in their late 30s and early 40s with $1 million invested may never need to save another dollar for retirement, because left alone, that money could grow to about $4 million. The harder question isn't the money. It's which of them keeps working to carry the family's health insurance. Paula and Joe start with Beth, an accountant married to a burned-out tech worker, who wants to know whether they can cut back on work now. Then they tackle a retiree's Ivy League financial aid questions and a New Yorker asking whether renting forever is a financial death sentence.
#759: At 19, Jaspreet Singh bought a rental for $8,000. What followed was a nightmare tenant, a lawsuit, and a later house stripped of its copper, and it taught him what the real estate books leave out.
#758: Joe says that if you tell an employer you’re not motivated by money, you’re unemployable. Paula says that’s exactly the person she wants to hire.
#757: Ron Johnson is the creator of the Apple Stores and former CEO of JCPenney.
#756: In September 2008, Jared Dillian watched about half a million dollars of Lehman Brothers stock go to zero in a single week. He wasn't allowed to sell any of it. What he built afterward is a portfolio designed so he never goes through that again.