Publications

The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (“JOLTS”), a closely-watched measure of labor market health, indicated there were 6.1 million job openings at the end of September, little changed from August.  Hires edged down to 5.3 million and the quits rate inched up to 2.2%.  BLS Report

The Washington Post reports that House Republicans have made modest changes to their tax bill but will not include a repeal of the Affordable Care Act’s “individual mandate.” The changes do include tweaks to the tax treatment of university endowments and cross-border transactions by multinational corporations, among other things. WaPo

According to the Wall Street Journal, rising homeownership among millennials is contributing to the slump in home rental markets. As millennials increasingly decide to buy homes rather than rent them, a surge in supply of rental units after the recent recession has weakened rental prices. WSJ

The Wall Street Journal reports that New York Federal Reserve Bank President William Dudley will retire in 2018, about six months earlier than scheduled. The NY Fed President serves as the vice-chair of the Federal Open Market Committee, so any replacement nominated by President Trump will be poised to exert significant influence over the rate-setting activities of the Fed. WSJ

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed former Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers Martin Feldstein argues that corporate tax reform is the most crucial part of the current tax reform effort. Feldstein contends that the U.S. capital stock could rise by $5 trillion within a decade, thereby boosting incomes across the board and offsetting any negative effects associated with an expanded federal deficit. WSJ

Eric Morath of The Wall Street Journal writes that retail jobs openings have climbed to nearly the highest level on record as the holiday season approaches. Morath reports that retailers have begun hiring out of training programs designed to retrain workers from other industries, a sign that a multi-decade low unemployment rate has translated into increasingly scarce workers. WSJ

The Wall Street Journal reports that House Republicans released their tax reform bill yesterday. The bill aims to reduce corporate taxes significantly and to simplify the individual tax code by collapsing seven brackets to three and eliminating most itemized deductions. WSJ

The Wall Street Journal reports that the GOP tax plan will not lower tax rates for the highest-earning individuals. The plan will also reportedly delay the repeal of the estate tax in an effort to obtain support from some critics who have said that the proposed tax plan affords too many benefits to the wealthy. WSJ