Investing IINsights — Weekly Email Audio Edition Topic: Jobs Hit a Wall, Inflation Didn’t, and the Consumer Is Cracking

This week’s economic data looks better on the surface than it feels underneath.

The headlines say GDP was revised higher and unemployment ticked down, but the deeper numbers tell a much messier story: job growth slowed sharply, prior months were revised lower, consumer-facing sectors weakened, and inflation is still too sticky for the Fed to easily cut rates.

In this episode, we break down why the labor market may be hitting a wall, why the consumer is starting to crack, and why sticky inflation puts the Fed in a very uncomfortable position. We also look at what this means for portfolios, especially dividend investors trying to balance income, safety, and opportunity.

We  ...