John Silvia Employment Quotations

I think clearly the retail employment number is goofy. I think when that number is revised and we look back several months, we'll eventually see a gain.

Manufacturing sector employment is likely to improve in the months ahead. However, employment gains are likely to remain below par.

Manufacturing output is up, yet employment in the manufacturing sector is down. This result suggests that the firms are producing more in the U.S., but doing it with fewer workers.

We definitely have to figure that once tax filing season is done and tax refunds are cashed, we do expect consumer spending will slow down in the second half of this year, ... I don't see any way to fudge that (higher financing costs). You're not getting the employment gains or wage and income gains to offset that.

The decline in retail, leisure and transportation employment suggests rising business caution independent of any short-term storm,

Employment markets were solid on the eve of destruction.

Employment and wages are stronger and therefore, consumer spending is stronger. Housing is slowing, but not as much as we would have expected, and the price of oil is so far not having that big an impact on the consumer.

This is really the first post-NAFTA, post-WTO economic recovery we've ever had in this country. Because of the globalization of the labor market, the relationship between economic growth and employment is different this time than it has been in the past.

This good news supports the view of continued economic and employment gains with limited upside risk of rising interest rates.

Taken together, all this employment data provides the Federal Reserve with a measure of confidence to allow an increase in the funds rate,

But I don't think a prudent business or household manager can dismiss these energy prices today. We'll have to see what impact this all has on spending, employment plans and the rest.

The evidence so far would suggest we're probably going to have a below-average employment gain in this recovery.