US consumer can make or break economy: Jon Hilsenrath
With the U.S. economic landscape in question, can the consumer be a good foundation for a stronger economy?
Jon Hilsenrath of The Wall Street Journal said it “depends” on how businesses respond to all the uncertainties.
“If business investment, and more importantly, if [business] hiring stays steady and this unemployment rate stays as low as it is then consumers are in pretty good shape,” he told FOX Business’ Dagen McDowell on Monday. “If hiring starts to slow down if companies start to squeeze on the wage front, then you know, I think consumers maybe wobble a little bit.”
Last month U.S. consumer prices rose 0.3 percent, according to the Labor Department, and U.S. employers added 164,000 jobs while the unemployment rate remained near a 50-year-low at 3.7 percent.
Meanwhile, U.S. stocks rallied Monday morning after Trump said China wanted to resume trade talks during the G-7 meeting in Biarritz, France.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ON FOX BUSINESS
Hilsenrath said consumer behavior depends on what “happens in the other sectors right now.”
“They're the bedrock,” he said. “And as long as they stay in good shape, the economy I think stays above the zero line.”