This Weekly Financial Market Update reviews the top market headlines: Employment Growth Weakens, Home Prices Continue to Stabalize, Spending Rises as Consumers Tap Savings
  • U.S. non-farm payrolls rose by 187,000 in August
  • The Case-Shiller 20-City Composite Home Price Index rose 0.9% in June versus the prior month
  • Personal consumption rose 0.8% in July

Top Three Market Headlines

Employment Growth Weakens: The Labor Department reported last week that employers in the U.S. added 187,000 jobs in August, more than economists' expectation of 170,000. However, previously-announced totals for July and June were revised downward considerably by a total of 110,000. Over the past three months, 150,000 jobs have been added on average, down from a 238,000 average gain from March through May. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate for August rose to 3.8%, up from 3.5% in July, while average hourly wages rose at a 4.3% annual pace, little changed from a 4.4% pace in July.

Home Prices Continue to Stabilize: Home prices rose in June for the fourth straight month after having declined for eight consecutive months beginning in mid-2022. According to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-City Composite Home Price Index released last week, prices increased 0.9% in June versus the prior month, and were down just 1.2% compared to the prior year, an improvement from the 1.7% annual decline in May. On a year-over-year basis, the largest gains were recorded in Chicago, Cleveland, and New York, while the weakest trends were seen in the Western region, with San Francisco (-9.7%) and Seattle (-8.8%), in particular, experiencing drastic price drops.

Spending Rises as Consumers Tap Savings: The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported last week that personal consumption expenditures (PCE), a measure of consumer spending for all goods and services, rose 0.8% in July versus June. This was the largest monthly increase in six months and followed a solid pace 0.6% in June as well. The jump in July primarily centered on services, particularly financial services and insurance. The latest spending surge, however, has been largely supported by consumers dipping into their savings, as growth in personal income lagged that of expenditures for the second consecutive month.

As of September 05, 2023 Week Quarter-To-Date Year-To-Date One-Year
MSCI All Country World 2.58% 0.93% 14.99% 15.00%
S&P 500 2.55% 1.76% 18.95% 15.79%
Russell 2000 3.67% 1.93% 10.17% 7.04%
MSCI EAFE 2.53% -0.96% 10.60% 20.83%
MSCI Emerging Markets 1.52% 0.23% 5.13% 3.67%
FTSE NAREIT Equity 1.80% -0.32% 5.04% -3.00%
Bloomberg Commodity 1.29% 6.15% -2.12 -6.39%
Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate 0.48% -1.17% 0.89% -1.07%

S&P Global 08/29/2023. BEA 8/31/2023. WSJ 9/1/2023. 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.