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When analyzing the job market data, assessing the health of the labor market requires looking beyond the headline job numbers. Three key factors—employment growth, hours worked, and real wage growth—together provide a clearer picture of how income and labor demand are evolving. Jobs reflect the size of the workforce, hours

Oil has long been one of the most geopolitically sensitive commodities in global markets. From the oil shocks of the 1970s to more recent supply disruptions, political developments have frequently introduced periods of heightened volatility in crude prices. However, history also shows that many of these episodes produce sharp but

Geopolitical turmoil is unsettling, but history shows that markets are often more resilient than the headlines suggest, and disciplined investors can use that to their advantage. Periods of war, political escalation, or global conflict can dominate the news cycle and trigger sharp market reactions. The uncertainty surrounding these events can

The most recent U.S. labor report shows the unemployment rate at 4.4%, reflecting a slight increase from the previous month and signaling a modest softening in the labor market. Recent data indicate the economy lost roughly 92,000 jobs in February 2026, a surprising reversal from earlier expectations of job growth.

What Happened On February 28, 2026, the United States and Israel launched coordinated military strikes against Iran. The operation followed months of escalating tensions, including Iran’s violent crackdown on domestic protesters and failed nuclear negotiations. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was confirmed killed in the strikes. Iran retaliated with missile

The U.S. economy in 2025 demonstrated resilience in the face of policy shifts, trade disruptions, and a prolonged government shutdown. While growth varied across quarters, the overall expansion of about 2.2% for the year remained above the long term historical average. Steady consumer spending and meaningful investment in technology and

Truflation’s U.S. CPI-like index is designed as a daily-updated inflation measure built from a basket of consumer-spending categories broadly inspired by CPI structure, but implemented with alternative/high-frequency data feeds and a distinct housing treatment. Truflation documents a 7-step process (household expenditure weights → data sources → ingestion → transformations → indexing → weighting/roll-up → publication) and publishes

Homebuilder confidence is measured by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Housing Market Index (HMI), a monthly survey of roughly 900 single-family builders that began in 1985. The index is diffusion-based, with readings above 50 indicating that more builders view conditions as good than poor. It is composed of

Please find the next blog in our monthly series that provides a snapshot of the markets and the state of the economy. Economic Overview Market Returns Asset Class Valuations – Rebalancing Rationale Key Risk Factors We Are Watching Disclaimers: The views expressed herein are those of Asset Consulting Group (ACG).