This Weekly Financial Markets Update reviews the top market headlines: Job Gains Trend Upwards in May, Consumer Confidence Tumbles to Six-Month Low, Home Prices Rise in March
  • U.S. employers were reported to have added 339,000 jobs in May
  • The Consumer Confidence Index fell from to 102.3 in May, a six-month low
  • The Case-Shiller 20-City Composite Home Price Index fell 1.1% in March versus the prior year

Top Three Market Headlines

Job Gains Trend Upwards in May: The Labor Department reported last week that employers added 339,000 jobs during May, the highest amount in four months. Additionally, March and April's reports were revised upwards by a total of 93,000 jobs. Areas that saw notable gains in May included professional and business services, government, health care, construction, transportation and warehousing, and social assistance. Despite the reported gains, the unemployment rate increased by 0.3 percentage points to 3.7%, the highest level in six months.

Consumer Confidence Tumbles to Six-Month Low: U.S. consumers' outlook dropped to the lowest level since last November, according to the latest Consumer Confidence Index report issued by the Conference Board, a private research group. The index fell from 103.7 in April to 102.3 in May, as consumers expressed an increased pessimistic outlook on business conditions and inflation expectations over the next six months. The report came on the heels of the prior week's similarly downbeat Index of Consumer Sentiment published by the University of Michigan, which also hit a six-month low.

Home Prices Rise in March: Home prices across major U.S. metropolitan areas rose by 0.5% in March compared to the prior month, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-City Composite Home Price Index. Gains were fairly broad, with 15 of 20 cities showing rising prices on the month. Notably, however, prices were down 1.1% compared to March of last year, the first annual decline since May 2012. Trends continued to differ widely across regions, with certain western cities seeing large annual price declines (Seattle, -12.4%; San Francisco, -11.2%), while price growth remained solid across the Southeast (Miami, +7.7%; Tampa +4.8%).

As of June 5, 2023 Week Quarter-To-Date Year-To-Date One-Year
MSCI All Country World 1.61% 2.99% 10.51% 2.91%
S&P 500 1.88% 4.53% 12.37% 4.32%
Russell 2000 3.32% 1.83% 4.62% -2.02%
MSCI EAFE 0.88% 1.19% 9.76% 6.16%
MSCI Emerging Markets 1.25% -0.15% 3.80% -4.60%
FTSE NAREIT Equity 3.39% -0.08% 2.60% -10.45%
Bloomberg Commodity -0.15% -4.54% -9.66% -22.46%
Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate 22.46% -0.77% 2.17% -2.19%

WSJ 6/2/2023, the Conference Board 05/30/2023, S&P Global 5/30/2023. Data from Morningstar Direct. Returns for periods greater than one year are annualized. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors, LLC ("GFA") is an SEC Registered Investment Adviser that provides retirement, investment advisory, discretionary/named and independent fiduciary services. GFA is a limited liability company with Gallagher Benefit Services, Inc. as its single member. GFA may pay referral fees or other remuneration to employees of AJG or its affiliates or to independent contractors; such payments do not change our fee. Securities may be offered through Triad Advisors, LLC ("Triad"), member FINRA/SIPC. Triad is separately owned and other entities and/or marketing names, products or services referenced here are independent of Triad. Neither Triad, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., GFA, their affiliates nor representatives provide accounting, legal or tax advice.