U.S. PRIVATE HIRING SLOWS FOR FIFTH STRAIGHT WEEK
ADP data showed U.S. private employers added an average of 15,000 jobs per week in the four weeks ending July 11, marking a fifth consecutive weekly slowdown.
Hiring has fallen from 35,750 in early May to 15,000, signaling continued cooling in the labor market ahead of upcoming employment reports.
BREAKING: Trump has cancelled plans to sharply escalate the war on Iran over concerns that Iranian attacks could dangerously drain the Pentagon's already diminished stockpile of Patriot antimissile interceptors and other air defense munitions in the Middle East close to zero, per NYT.
The Pentagon has used more than 1,200 Patriot interceptors in the war at more than $4M each, with cheap Iranian drones and ballistic missiles depleting the US inventory. Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine privately cautioned that resuming major combat operations would fully deplete interceptors available to US Central Command.
A senior US official adds that continued strikes have had "the opposite effect of what is intended, keeping Iran cohesive and allowing Iranian leaders to focus attention on an external threat."