ECONOMY

June Jobs Report Gets an A-

And that’s if we’re being tough graders. The US economy added 850,000 jobs in June, marking the biggest monthly gain in almost a year and topping expectations. 

The unemployment rate ticked up from 5.8% to 5.9%, but it’s not cause for alarm. More people started looking for jobs last month, which increased the denominator in the unemployment rate equation (unemployment rate = number of unemployed people / total number of people who are currently working or looking for work). 

Major themes from the jobs report

• Leisure and hospitality : The sector most battered by the pandemic added 343,000 jobs in June, accounting for 40% of the total gains. 

• Wages : Average hourly pay rose 3.6% in June over a year earlier, and it's 6.6% above levels from February 2020, before Covid-19 hit the US. Inflation doesn’t hold a candle to that wage growth.

• Remote work: 14.4% of US employees were teleworking because of the pandemic. That’s down from 16.6% in May and a 35% peak in May 2020. 

Big picture: Things are trending up in the labor market as we head into the height of summer. The 850,000 headline number represents a big improvement from May’s jobs report (+583,000 jobs) and April’s (+269,000).

Challenges remain, of course. The economy is still 6.8 million jobs short of its pre-pandemic levels—not because employers aren’t hiring, but because they’re struggling to find workers to fill all their open positions. Economists hope that the increase in job seekers in June is a sign the labor crunch could smooth out by fall.

C-SUITE

CEO, Entrepreneur, Born in 1968. Andy. Andy Jassy.

Andy Jassy starts his first day as Amazon’s CEO on Monday, July 5—a cruel joke on departing CEO Jeff Bezos’s part. Let’s get to know him.

The New York native wears a Harvard sweatshirt unironically, since he went there for both undergrad and an MBA. In 1997, he started his Amazon career as a marketing manager. Five years later, he was chosen to be Bezos’s “shadow advisor,” another way of saying chief of staff.

Not long after, Jassy changed Amazon forever by coming up with and executing on the idea for Amazon’s cloud computing service, Amazon Web Services, which he currently leads. AWS now accounts for 60% of Amazon’s operating profits. 

Here’s what Bezos had to say about Jassy at Amazon’s May shareholder meeting: “He has the highest of high standards, that I guarantee that Andy will never let the universe make us typical.”

Some fun facts: Jassy loves beef jerky and Dave Matthews Band, hosts wing-eating competitions, and is a minority owner of the NHL’s Seattle Kraken.

And some less-fun facts: Jassy will have to fill some size 16 shoes as he confronts growing antitrust scrutiny of Amazon and unusually high turnover in the company’s C-suite.

PYROTECHNICS

Five Fast Firework Facts for the Fourth

We know you’re running around this morning putting the finishing touches on your deviled eggs and strawberry pretzel salad before tomorrow’s Fourth of July jamboree, but we’re still going to pop in with a few fireworks facts before things get too explosive. According to the WSJ...

1. Supply chain issues are back again to dull your holiday. Firework supply is expected to drop ~30% across the country with logistics all scrambled due to Covid.

2. Not helping: 90% of US fireworks are made in China, so logjams at ports over there mean a reduction or delay in getting supply over here.

3. Retailers warn that you might have to pay as much as 25% more than you’re used to for some fireworks.

4. Last year, firework sales jumped to $1.9 billion from $1 billion because there was simply nothing else to do except blow things up.

5. Massachusetts is the only state with a total ban on the sale of consumer fireworks. Thanks, Ben Affleck.

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GRAB BAG

Key Performance Indicators

Stat: Want to hear a funny joke? New York is dead. Manhattan real estate prices hit an all-time high in Q2, with the median resale price for Manhattan apartments increasing to $999,000. More than 220 penthouses have been sold in the borough so far this year, a 35% bump from the same period in 2019. 

Quote: “I just say, don’t judge me and I am human—I’m you. I just happen to run a little faster.”

US track star Sha’Carri Richardson went on NBC to apologize after testing positive for marijuana, which is on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s list of banned substances. The positive test means she won’t be able to compete in the 100-meter race at the Tokyo Olympics, but could be available for the 4x100 meter relay.  

Read: The three simple rules that underscore the danger of Delta. (The Atlantic)

PERSONAL FINANCE

Money Matters: When to Pay Off Student Loans?

In this new Summer 2021 segment, the Brew’s personal finance writer Ryan Lasker is nose-diving into our inbox to address your personal finance questions. Submit your money woes here.

Should college grads start investing before paying off all student loans?—Morgan from Rhode Island

My answer to most “should” questions is “it depends.” No exception here.

Many feel rushed to pay down their loans ASAP, but there’s an argument for not putting every extra dollar toward debt. You have two financial priorities: Make all the minimum payments on your debt, and build an emergency fund worth at least three months of essential expenses.

Deciding what to do with any extra money takes some calculus (not the integral kind). If you think an investment will return more than your highest interest rate, you might want to start investing some money.

• Say your only debt is a student loan at 5% interest. If you think an investment will return more than 5% this year, investing might be a good shout.
• But if you also have credit card debt at a 20% interest rate, focus on eliminating that first.

Of course, nobody knows how your investments will perform, and we haven’t even talked about what you want to do. If you decide to invest, consider opening a retirement account; even a small investment now will grow to be significant by the time you’re posting your “just retired!” Insta decades from now.

P.S.: Later this summer Ryan will be writing a twice-weekly personal finance newsletter to make you smarter about your money. Become one of the first subscribers. 

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Didi shares fell 5.3% just two days after its IPO because China opened up a cybersecurity investigation into the ride-hailing company.
• Lordstown Motors, an electric truck startup that’s been accused of misleading investors, is reportedly being investigated by the DOJ.
• Citigroup is joining its big-bank peers in raising pay for junior bankers.
• Tesla delivered more than 200,000 vehicles in a quarter for the first time.

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For your cookout: 80 healthy July 4th recipes to eat outdoors. 

Weekend Conversation Starters:

• Write a horror story for your industry using just four words
• What’s a music album where every single track is great? 
• QR codes or physical menus?
• Complete the sentence: round hot dogs are….

FROM THE CREW

Brew's Bookshelf

Every other week, Brew's Bookshelf recommends a few of our favorite business reads. Today, we chose two that are perfect for a long weekend by the lake, pool, and even dry land.

1. This week, Juul said it would pay $40 million to settle North Carolina allegations that it was illegally marketing its products to teens. Lauren Etter investigates Juul's relationship with Big Tobacco and Silicon Valley in The Devil's Playbook.
2. Rana El Kaliouby has worked for a long time to humanize our tech, and in Girl Decoded she explains why she's so dedicated to her mission. 

GAMES

Brew Crossword: Fireworks

Let this morning's Brew Crossword be the last work your brain has to do for the next 72 hours.

But still try it, because it's a great puzzle and it's Fourth of July themed. Solve it here.