The economy and the stock market aren’t one and the same. One doesn’t represent the other. However, typically, the two things do and can influence each other. After all, if the economy is poor, earnings, profits and sales at corporations will dip, and investors flee stocks when this happens. So, the economy and the stock market are sort of joined at the hip.
And lately, one of the biggest drivers of the economy has continued to be the robust labor market. Companies have been hiring at a fevered pace; the amount of available jobs is near record highs and we have an unemployment rate near lows not seen in decades. Naturally, with consumers feeling good about their prospects, they’ve continued to spend. And that has continued to drive earnings and the market higher.
The question is, can the historic rise in labor keep the good times going?
Lately, we’ve seen some slippage in our robust labor market. For investors, the answer could be a bit murky.
Find out why now might not be the best time to dump your dividend stocks here.
