US employers added a surprising 147,000 jobs last month at AP. “The unemployment rate ticked down 4.1% from 4.2% in May, the Labor Department said Thursday. Hiring rose modestly from a revised 144,000 in May and beat economists expectations of fewer than 118,000 new jobs and a rise in the unemployment rate.” Read more

 

What the U.S.-Vietnam trade deal tells us about the future of tariffs at CNBC. “…the U.S. will apply a 20% duty on Vietnamese imports — sharply below the 46% rate Trump had imposed in early April. U.S. imports to Vietnam will meanwhile not be subject to tariffs. Trump also said that Vietnam had agreed to a 40% duty on any products that originally came from another country, but were sent to Vietnam for final shipment to the U.S.” Read more

 

…Vietnam Trade Deal Takes Aim at Back Door for Chinese Goods at WSJ. “Michel Bertsch, who runs a factory in Vietnam that sells baby furniture such as cribs to the U.S. and other Western countries, said the 20% tariffs will inevitably translate into higher prices for American consumers. Still, he said he thought that Vietnam would remain a top destination for manufacturing. U.S. imports from China are subject to an average tariff of 40% to 50%, giving Vietnam an edge…” WSJ subs. 

 

France fines retailer Shein 40 million euros for misleading discounts at Reuters. “The probe, conducted across thousands of products on Shein’s French site between October 1, 2022 and August 31, 2023, found 57% of advertised deals were not, in fact, offering a lower price; 19% had less of a discount than advertised; and 11% were in fact price increases.” Read more

 

CEOs Start Saying the Quiet Part Out Loud: AI Will Wipe Out Jobs at WSJ. “Artificial intelligence is going to replace literally half of all white-collar workers in the U.S.,” Ford Motor’s Chief Executive Jim Farley said in an interview last week with author Walter Isaacson at the Aspen Ideas Festival. “AI will leave a lot of white-collar people behind.” WSJ subs.

 

TikTok lays off more employees working on TikTok Shop US at TechCrunch. “Per a report from Bloomberg, TikTok has conducted its third round of layoffs for this team since April, but has not disclosed how many jobs were impacted.” Read more

 

Andy Jassy’s latest canvas for reinvigorating Amazon’s cultural DNA? Employee reviews at Yahoo. “The move codifies and formalizes what was previously implied: that Amazon managers should evaluate employees in part on how well their actions live up to the company’s 16 Leadership Principles – corporate totems or values like “Bias for Action,” “Customer Obsession, and “Frugality”…” Read more

 

Target donated $300,000 to a Black church group. Why boycott activists want it returned. at USA Today. “During a Sunday sermon at his New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest, Georgia…Bryant decried Target’s donation to the National Baptist Convention. He accused Target, whose CEO had met with Bryant and the Rev. Al Sharpton in April, of “going around” him to the National Baptist Convention.” Read more

 

Line for new Georgia Buc-ees wraps around the building at WSAV. “The line for the Buc-ees…was wrapped around the large building…included visitors who have been making stops at all the new Buc-ees openings. Staff recognized familiar faces from the Buc-ees that just opened in Virginia. Doors opened yesterday for Virginia’s first Buc-ee’s, bringing a little bit of Texas to the Commonwealth.” Read more

 

Target led U.S. last year in trademark applications as it launched new brands Star Tribune subs.

 

Hong Kong retailers under strain as changing trends drive store closures at Reuters. “Hong Kong’s retailers are battling against shifting consumer habits, as visitors spend less and locals head across the border to China for cheaper dining and shopping, leading to a wave of store closures.” Read more