🧭 The Weekly Scoop

Hey Insider - this is peak OOO reply week coming up. Enjoy your weekend!

Here’s what you need to know this week.…

The market has fully recovered from last week’s freakout, and for good reason. There was a lot to add to the “optimistic” column this week. The cost of living has relatively stabilized, and wages are catching up. That seems to be giving people more purchasing power — the main ingredient we’ve been calling for to drive a rebound. Record new apartment supply is bringing relief in rent prices. Mortgage costs keep falling. Gas prices keep falling. While hiring has indeed slowed from the post-pandemic, super-stimulated boom time back to a much more normal pace, it doesn’t yet seem like employers have shifted to layoffs.

With policymakers looking ready to start lowering borrowing costs soon, there’s definitely room for optimism amidst the abundance of pessimism. We’ll keep monitoring for signs of things turning sour, but the aggregate seems slower but stable for now.

Of course, recessions don’t usually happen slowly. So, the economy is definitely in a delicate place that could succumb to a downturn if something breaks. I’ve pointed out a few of those, like real estate or war, but there’s always something.

Stay tuned for the next episode of living in America.

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