What happened last week…
UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was fatally shot outside a New York hotel in a targeted attack. Thompson, who led the insurance unit of UnitedHealth Group (UNH), was set to attend the company’s investor day that morning. Thompson had been with the company since 2004 and became CEO of UnitedHealthcare in 2021. No arrests have been made.
Eli Lilly (LLY) said its weight loss drug Zepbound is more effective compared to rival drug Wegovy, manufactured by Novo Nordisk. The trials found, “Zepbound provided a 47% greater relative weight loss compared to Wegovy. On average, Zepbound led to a superior weight loss of 20.2% compared to 13.7% with Wegovy.” By pounds, “Participants using Zepbound lost 50.3 lbs. and participants on Wegovy lost 33.1 lbs.” According to GoodRx, “Since the start of 2024, fills for Wegovy and Zepbound have increased by over 100% and 300%, respectively.”
The ADP employment change fell below expectations (163,000) as it decreased to 146,000 from the downwardly revised 184,000 (from 233,000). The unemployment rate matched expectations as it increased to 4.2% from 4.1%. Nonfarm payrolls beat expectations (214,000) as it increased to 227,000 from the upwardly revised 36,000 (from 12,000). Average hourly earnings month-over-month landed higher than expectations (0.3%) as it remained at 0.4%.
The manufacturing PMI for November beat expectations (47.5) as it increased to 48.4 from 46.5. While it is the highest reading June, it marked the eighth straight contractionary reading (below 50) and the 24th contraction in the past 25 months. The non-manufacturing PMI for November missed expectations (55.5) as it decreased to 52.1 from 56.0. It is the fifth straight month of expansion and the figure has expanded in 51 of the previous 54 months.
Happening this week…
On Wednesday, the inflation rate year-over-year for November is expected to increase to 2.7% from 2.6%, which snapped a streak of six straight monthly declines. The rate peaked at 9.1% in June 2022. Meanwhile, the core inflation rate year-over-year for November is expected to remain at 3.3%. The September reading was the first monthly increase since March 2023.
Thanks for Reading!
- The Rockline Team