1. After the US economy appears to have contracted (-0.5%/-0.8%) in the first quarter, how is the economy doing here in Q2 which is half over this week?
Last week we learned that after a simply dismal March labor report, April job growth bounced back above 200k. The May employment survey will be done in the week ahead. Weekly initial jobless claims have fallen to new cyclical lows, as has the unemployment rate.