Morning Brief – US Employment

US Employment

With 9 million jobs remaining unfilled and less than 10% of unemployed actually looking for work, the USA is only too aware of why Covid plus the various Covid support schemes are not successful in getting Americans back to work. Despite nearly 60% of the adult working population and 46% of the entire US population having been vaccinated, the primary reason given for not returning to work is the fear of contracting Covid. Hopes are pinned on the return to school freeing up child carers and having a knock on effect on employment statistics. Meanwhile USD remains strong versus EUR at 1.1860 and 10 Year Government Bond yield at 1.43%

The Ultra Wealthy: Where do they Live?

Those like me that would base their answers on the USA and NYC, LA and San Francisco are wrong. The answer in first place is SanJose, California the capital of Silicon Valley which has the greatest concentration of the wealthiest people in the world. Ultra High Net Worth is being worth in excess of USD 30 million in case you were wondering. In second place is of course Basel, Switzerland followed by Hong Kong, Geneva and Zurich. The eagle eyed among you will have spotted that those are all relatively small cities and therein lies the clue: it is the proportion of UHNW of a smaller sample. NYC and SF, Seattle and Boston all have more UHNW but among larger populations. So if you want to increase your chances of joining the ranks of the UHNW, set off for San Jose or head west as the early American settlers did.

Canada and Qatar

Now that the “heat dome” is moving East away from British Columbia towards Alberta, the luckless 1500 citizens of Lytton BC which I visited briefly but memorably in 2016 and now largely destroyed by fire are counting their blessings that the 45c heat is now over. I write memorably because then it seemed that the town’s people in the only cafe seemed strong candidates for a Canadian remake of the unforgettable film, Deliverance.

In just over 16 months the opening Football World Cup match will kick off in Qatar where temperatures will be a comparatively acceptable max of 25-30c for the month long tournament. This month in Qatar of course is a different story with temperatures around the same level or greater than British Columbia was last week. Gulf states are well known for sending construction workers home when the thermometer hits 50c; they are also equally well known for programming government thermometers to record a max of 49.5c. That’s how Gulf states get their jaw dropping building projects done on time.

Rolling Stones

It was this day in 1969 that a huge crowd of more than 250,000 gathered in London’s Hyde Park to attend a free concert in tribute to Brian Jones given principally by the Rolling Stones just 2 days after their bandmate had died in a swimming pool in Hartfield, Sussex. The concert was epic with great music from the Rolling Stones plus bands King Crimson, Family and the Third Ear band among others. Mick Jagger read an extract from Percy Bysshe Shelley’s Adonais and simultaneously released 3,500 butterflies. Here is one of the Rolling Stones greatest songs which was released the day before on July 4 1969:

You Can’t Always Get What You Want:

I saw her today at the reception
A glass of wine in her hand
I knew she would meet her connection
At her feet was her footloose man

No, you can’t always get what you want
You can’t always get what you want
You can’t always get what you want
But if you try sometime you find
You get what you need

I saw her today at the reception
A glass of wine in her hand
I knew she was gonna meet her connection
At her feet was her footloose man

You can’t always get what you want
You can’t always get what you want
You can’t always get what you want
But if you try sometimes, well, you might find
You get what you need

And I went down to the demonstration
To get my fair share of abuse
Singing, “We’re gonna vent our frustration
If we don’t we’re gonna blow a fifty-amp fuse”

You can’t always get what you want
You can’t always get what you want
You can’t always get what you want
But if you try sometimes, well, you just might find
You get what you need

I went down to the Chelsea drugstore
To get your prescription filled
I was standing in line with Mr. Jimmy
And man, did he look pretty ill
We decided that we would have a soda
My favorite flavor, cherry red
I sung my song to Mr. Jimmy
Yeah, and he said one word to me, and that was “dead”
I said to him

Discussion and Analysis by Humphrey Percy, Chairman and Founder

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