The US economy added 263,000 jobs in February, exceeding expectations of 255,000, and the unemployment rate fell from 3.5% to 3.5%.
The employment report reinforced the Federal Reserve’s view that policymakers must continue to raise interest rates to slow the economy and control inflation.

And inflation is a real problem — not just in the United States, but worldwide, according to Hartnett, who estimates that nearly 2 billion people are experiencing inflation rates of approximately 10%, while 1.3 billion people are experiencing inflation rates of greater than 15%.

Hartnett pointed out valuation extremes that could be moderated further despite the market’s high inflation and ongoing concerns, indicating that there appears to be more downside potential despite the market’s high inflation and ongoing concerns.
He noted, for instance, that Tesla’s market capitalization is equivalent to that of the entire European banking sector and that US equities as a proportion of the MSCI World Index have just reached a new record high of 66%.

However, even Hartnett is tempted to purchase stocks in light of the nearly 25% decline in the S&P 500 year-to-date.
“So tempting to be a contrarian bull,” he said, citing the 15x forward price-to-earnings ratio of US stocks and the bearish consensus among investors.

Despite these optimistic indicators, Hartnett anticipates a difficult economic landing in 2023.”The only question for investors in 2023 is whether the economy will experience a hard landing or a soft landing,” BofA stated.

The argument for a hard landing includes the notion that if the Fed is indeed committed to achieving its 2% inflation target, Wall Street will continue to feel the effects of an interest rate shock. Hartnett noted that the average unemployment rate at the time of the last rate hike in previous rate-hiking cycles was 5.7%, indicating that job losses may be imminent.

And potential job losses could strain the economy and the banking system. He stated, “Risk of credit event remains extremely high.”

The construction and opening of the campus will generate 7,000 union construction jobs and 3,000 full-time positions with an average annual salary of $135,000. Not all of these positions will require a bachelor’s degree.

In August, in the presence of Intel, Micron Technology, IBM, Lockheed Martin, HP Inc., and AMD executives, Vice President Biden signed the bipartisan $280 billion CHIPS Act to stimulate domestic high-tech manufacturing.

According to Licking County, Ohio records, the Santa Clara, California-based tech giant purchased 750 acres for its semiconductor campus for approximately $111 million through its subsidiary Growth Site LLC. The property consists of parcels on Clover Valley Road and Green Chapel Road.

Kent Tibbils, vice president of marketing at ASI, a national distributor of IT hardware and software products based in Fremont, California, stated that any investment in U.S. manufacturing is positive, particularly for semiconductors.

“These factories represent long-term, highly skilled job growth across a broad range of industries, including construction, logistics, manufacturing equipment costing millions of dollars per machine, and many others,” he wrote in an email.”The most significant implication for the distribution channel is that the diversification of manufacturing in various geographies will strengthen the supply, improve delivery, and ultimately accelerate the release of new technology.”

Gelsinger stated that the CHIPS Act was the most significant piece of industrial policy legislation passed by Congress since World War II.

The CHIPS and Science Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act enabled construction. Intel stated that investing in revitalizing the U.S. chipmaking ecosystem will yield a wide range of economic benefits while restoring balance, dependability, and resilience to the global semiconductor supply chain.

According to Trilby Lundberg of the Lundberg Survey, the new price is 32 cents higher than the previous all-time high of $4.11 set in July 2008.

The price of gasoline is $1.54 higher now than a year ago.

Lundberg believes gas prices will remain high in the short term as crude oil prices rise due to global supply concerns following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The San Francisco Bay Area has the highest average price for regular-grade gas in the country, at $5.79 per gallon. Tulsa, Oklahoma, has the lowest average, at $3.80 per gallon.

The Golden State has the highest fuel prices in the country, which is owing in part to high gas taxes and environmental requirements for maintaining bridges and highways and combating climate change.

Gov. Gavin Newsom promised financial assistance to help consumers cope with rising gas prices, but few details have been published about how much or when state funds could be distributed to motorists.

According to the survey, the average price of diesel fuel has also increased, rising $1.18 in two weeks to $5.20 per gallon.
Diesel is $2.11 more expensive than it was a year ago.

Prices could rise much more if Russia responds to harsh sanctions imposed by the US and its allies by restricting oil exports, which would push the global cost per barrel to new highs. With inflation at a four-decade high, US drivers are already paying outrageous gas rates.