Why the Dow Got Crushed Today
The Dow Jones Industrial Average sunk close to 640 points after concerns over a looming recession grew louder today. In a recent survey conducted by CNBC among various chief financial officers, not one of the 22 respondents thinks a recession is avoidable in the near future. Roughly 68% of respondents thought a recession would occur in the first half of 2023, and every CFO responding expects a recession to hit by the end of 2023.
Additionally, unemployment claims climbed to their highest level last week since the very beginning of 2022. Filings for the week ending June 4 grew to 229,000, up from just over 200,000 the week prior and well above economist estimates.
Jobless claims are a good indicator of economic health and also a sign of whether or not the Federal Reserve will be able to engineer a soft landing, as it raises its key benchmark lending rate in order to reign in some of the highest levels of inflation seen in 40 years. The Fed's goal is to bring down consumer prices without hurting the currently healthy job market. If unemployment heads higher as the Fed raises rates, the economy could find itself in trouble.
Source Fool.com
