Despite closing down considerably on the last day of May - due to confirmation that the US will proceed with tariff plans against its North American and European allies - broad indices closed the month of May in positive territory. The civilian unemployment rate fell to 3.8% in May, its lowest since April 2000, and the rate has not been lower since 1969, according to the Department of Labor. Employers created 223,000 jobs, continuing a 92-month streak of expansion, and wages rose 2.7% since last May. The U.S. economy is also seeing its strongest wage growth for non-supervisory workers since 2009, at roughly 2.8%. Broad strength across the economy is driving increased demand for workers, and with it their wages and salaries. This release, coupled with Thursdays consumer confidence report of 128.0 and the recent tax cut, show that workers have more disposable income and are willing to spend it.
Last week’s M&A news included the approval by the Department of Justice for Bayer’s $66 billion acquisition of Monsanto, which is set to become one of the largest deals to date in 2018. In other news, KKR acquired BMC Software, PayPal will acquire JetLore, Myriad Genetics announced the acquisition of Counsyl, and JAB Holdings further expanded their coffee empire by buying Pret A Manger.
In a slow week for IPOs on U.S. exchanges, two tech unicorns (a term for billion-dollar valued private firms) dove into the initial public offering spotlight.
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