Markets

Do You Want Fries With That? [Chart]

Published

8 years ago

April 13, 2016

Jeff Desjardins

Do You Want Fries With That? [Chart]

Over half of U.S. jobs created this year are in Food or Retail

The Chart of the Week is a weekly Visual Capitalist feature on Fridays.

Every month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases its Employment Situation report, summing up the most recent government figures on employment in the United States. Investors use this information to gauge the health of the domestic economy, paying close attention to the unemployment rate, nonfarm payrolls, labor force participation, and wage growth.

While this report gets dissected to death each month, we thought we’d take a more nuanced view by profiling the two sectors that have supplied the lion’s share of job growth in 2016 so far.

Numbers in Q1

In the first three months of 2016, a total of 589,000 private sector jobs were created.

A variety of sectors contributed to this growth, including industries such as construction and healthcare. In particular, however, it was the “Accommodation and Food Services” and “Retail Trade” segments that added the most new workers. In combination, these sectors are the source for 51% of all new U.S. jobs in 2016 to date.

While there’s absolutely nothing wrong with job growth in these sectors, an important point from an investment perspective must be made. Typically speaking, these are jobs that pay on the lower end of the spectrum, and they do little to move the needle on making the overall economy richer and more diversified.

Sector Comparison

To get an idea of the jobs that are being created, here are the five most popular positions in each segment:

Accommodation and Food Services

Waiters and waitresses (18.9%)
Cooks (16.1%)
Food service managers (7.6%)
Cashiers (7.4%)
Food preparation (6.6%)

Retail Trade

Retail salespersons (19.7%)
Firstline supervisors (16.2%)
Cashiers (13.3%)
Stock clerks (7.0%)
Customer service (4.6%)

Here’s also the salary and age profile of each segment, as well as a comparison to the Manufacturing sector, which lost 29,000 jobs in March.

Accommodation and Food Services

Average age: 32.7
Average salary: $20,495
Share making <$20k per year: 63.8%

Retail Trade

Average age: 38.5
Average salary: $31,460
Share making <$20k per year: 46.6%

Manufacturing

Average age: 43.7
Average salary: $56,264
Share making <$20k per year: 15.8%

Data in this section comes from DataUSA, using information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and Census Bureau for 2014.

Related Topics:retail jobs mcjobs food job report

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The European Stock Market: Attractive Valuations Offer Opportunities

On average, the European stock market has valuations that are nearly 50% lower than U.S. valuations. But how can you access the market?

Graphics & Design

Alejandra Dander

An infographic showing that compared to North American and Asian stocks, the European stock market has lower or comparable valuations and low-to-moderate correlation.

European Stock Market: Attractive Valuations Offer Opportunities

Europe is known for some established brands, from L’Oréal to Louis Vuitton. However, the European stock market offers additional opportunities that may be lesser known.

The above infographic, sponsored by STOXX, outlines why investors may want to consider European stocks.

Attractive Valuations

Compared to most North American and Asian markets, European stocks offer lower or comparable valuations.

Index	Price-to-Earnings Ratio	Price-to-Book Ratio
EURO STOXX 50	14.9	2.2
STOXX Europe 600	14.4	2
U.S.	25.9	4.7
Canada	16.1	1.8
Japan	15.4	1.6
Asia Pacific ex. China	17.1	1.8

Data as of February 29, 2024. See graphic for full index names. Ratios based on trailing 12 month financials. The price to earnings ratio excludes companies with negative earnings.

On average, European valuations are nearly 50% lower than U.S. valuations, potentially offering an affordable entry point for investors.

Research also shows that lower price ratios have historically led to higher long-term returns.

Market Movements Not Closely Connected

Over the last decade, the European stock market had low-to-moderate correlation with North American and Asian equities.

The below chart shows correlations from February 2014 to February 2024. A value closer to zero indicates low correlation, while a value of one would indicate that two regions are moving in perfect unison.

	EURO STOXX 50	STOXX EUROPE 600	U.S.	Canada	Japan	Asia Pacific ex. China
EURO STOXX 50	1.00	0.97	0.55	0.67	0.24	0.43
STOXX EUROPE 600		1.00	0.56	0.71	0.28	0.48
U.S.			1.00	0.73	0.12	0.25
Canada				1.00	0.22	0.40
Japan					1.00	0.88
Asia Pacific ex. China						1.00

Data is based on daily USD returns.

European equities had relatively independent market movements from North American and Asian markets. One contributing factor could be the differing sector weights in each market. For instance, technology makes up a quarter of the U.S. market, but health care and industrials dominate the broader European market.

Ultimately, European equities can enhance portfolio diversification and have the potential to mitigate risk for investors.

Tracking the Market

For investors interested in European equities, STOXX offers a variety of flagship indices:

Index	Description	Market Cap
STOXX Europe 600	Pan-regional, broad market	€10.5T
STOXX Developed Europe	Pan-regional, broad-market	€9.9T
STOXX Europe 600 ESG-X	Pan-regional, broad market, sustainability focus	€9.7T
STOXX Europe 50	Pan-regional, blue-chip	€5.1T
EURO STOXX 50	Eurozone, blue-chip	€3.5T

Data is as of February 29, 2024. Market cap is free float, which represents the shares that are readily available for public trading on stock exchanges.

The EURO STOXX 50 tracks the Eurozone’s biggest and most traded companies. It also underlies one of the world’s largest ranges of ETFs and mutual funds. As of November 2023, there were €27.3 billion in ETFs and €23.5B in mutual fund assets under management tracking the index.

“For the past 25 years, the EURO STOXX 50 has served as an accurate, reliable and tradable representation of the Eurozone equity market.”
— Axel Lomholt, General Manager at STOXX

Partnering with STOXX to Track the European Stock Market

Are you interested in European equities? STOXX can be a valuable partner:

Comprehensive, liquid and investable ecosystem
European heritage, global reach
Highly sophisticated customization capabilities
Open architecture approach to using data
Close partnerships with clients
Part of ISS STOXX and Deutsche Börse Group

With a full suite of indices, STOXX can help you benchmark against the European stock market.

Learn how STOXX’s European indices offer liquid and effective market access.

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