After dark days on stock markets, see where economy stands now

When world markets fall with big red numbers like they did Monday, investors are shaken and 401(k)s are dented. Should that have us on edge about the direction of the economy? Several other numbers say probably not.

Following three days of losses, including Monday's sell-off, the three major U.S. indexes regained ground Tuesday, and futures trading Wednesday morning set the markets up for potentially another day with green numbers.

The economic news that put a crack in investor confidence came Friday morning when the Department of Labor reported the U.S. economy created fewer jobs in July than expected and the unemployment rate rose to 4.3%.

The unemployment rate has ticked up in every month of 2024 except February. Still, the economy created jobs in July and the jobless rate remains historically low.

Unemployment rate rises above 10-year median

What's left is a mixed bag. The issues pushing the world's stock markets down in recent days are much more varied and complex than just a disappointing jobs report. Could Friday's jobs numbers raise the risk of a recession? Possibly. But other data points aren't trending that way.

"Fears over the health of the economy escalated drastically in recent days," Oxford Economics, an independent economic advisory firm, said in its Recession Monitor on Wednesday. "We think that is an overreaction to what has been a steady weakening in the incoming economic data."

The Oxford Economics index turned down in its July forecast, meaning the odds of a recession have risen. But the company said, "They are still below the historical recession threshold and still lower than they were a year ago."

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A new report released Tuesday by Zeta Global, an artificial intelligence-powered marketing cloud, also suggests the job market is softening but the overall economy appears strong.

Zeta Global monitors the anonymized online behaviors of 240 million Americans. Perhaps among the trillions of data points analyzed by the company’s AI system, prospective employees are lamenting the challenges of landing a job.

 “A slight decline in job market sentiment and a slowdown in particular sectors suggests that further economic expansion will be uneven,” Zeta Global CEO David A. Steinberg said. Even with the job sentiment decline in July, the company's overall measure of the economy's strength – the Zeta Economic Index – continues to rise.

The economy's health since 2020 based on the Zeta Economic Index

Other measures show US economy remains strong

Zeta Global's findings square with more traditional economic measures:

◾ Gross domestic product surprises: The Commerce Department reported in late July that the value of goods and services produced in the U.S. during the second jumped 2.8%. That was double the first quarter's growth and almost a full percentage point stronger than forecasts.

◾ Consumer confidence rises: The Consumer Confidence Index remains well below its 10-year highs, but the index turned up a couple of points in July to 100. "Even though consumers remain relatively positive about the labor market, they still appear to be concerned about elevated prices and interest rates," Dana M. Peterson, chief economist at The Conference Board wrote.

◾ Service industry grows: Service-based industries make up 70% of GDP. Those industries grew in July for the 47th time in 50 months, the Institute for Supply Management reported Monday.

Signs of continued economic growth in the future

Most traditional measures, though, tell us what's happened and don't necessarily signal what's ahead. Consumer confidence gives us a sense of what's on Americans' minds, which could affect their spending or employment plans.

"Compared to last month, consumers were somewhat less pessimistic about the future," Peterson wrote. "Expectations for future income improved slightly, but consumers remained generally negative about business and employment conditions ahead."

Consumers appear primed to buoy economy with their spending

Zeta Global's indexes rely on collecting and analyzing the online actions of consumers, who account for almost 70 cents of every dollar spent in the U.S. economy. The July data suggest that we plan to increase our purchases in the coming weeks while taking on more debt.