Who knows what will happen after next Tuesday, but the labor department reported more good employment news for employment in October. “The official unemployment rate dropped to 4.9 percent, from 5 percent. And average hourly earnings rose 2.8 percent year over year, a level not reached since 2008. ” Overall, American manufacturers saw a positive uptick in October. The Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) manufacturing index for October showed that manufacturing expanded to 51.9%, which is the up from 51.5% in September. The ISM employment index also jumped to 52.9% from 49.3%, turning positive for the first time in four months. While there are definitely a number of US companies taking a wait-and-see approach to their business ahead of the election, there is still a ton positive momentum in the economy right now. It will be interesting to see what happens after Tuesday.
Bruce Peacock
Vice President of Business Development
The Richmond Group USA