The economic outlook for 2019 can be looked at in one of two ways – through the scope of the pessimistic geo-political noise dominating the headlines, or via the time-tested evidence our economy is spitting out indicating continued strength for U.S. markets. We at Clover Capital choose the latter, as do many of this nation’s CEOs surveyed by the Business Roundtable CEO Economic Outlook Survey. Jamie Dimon, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Chairman of Business Roundtable said, “The BRT CEO survey shows that confidence among America’s business leaders remains strong.”

The lingering trade dispute with China may, or may not, get resolved. The nation with the world's largest oil reserves, Venezuela, can't resolve their internal power struggle, global economic growth is slowing, particularly in the Eurozone and China. Stirred together, many others had predicted that this was supposed to signal the start of a global recession that would be dragging down the U.S. economy by now. Not us! As we predicted at the start of the year in the Clover Capital 2019 Economic Outlook, the American economic locomotive keeps on chugging.

$1 Trillion. According to a recent Gallup article, U.S. businesses are losing a trillion dollars a year due to voluntary employee turnover. The March 2019 Job Openings and Labor Turnover Report from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics reported the total number of separations in 2018 was 66.1 million. 61% (40.1 million) of those separations were quits/voluntary turnover. On the conservative side, the estimated cost of replacing an individual employee can range from one-half to two times the employee's annual salary. For example, a 100-person organization that provides an average salary of $50,000 could have turnover and replacement costs of approximately $660,000 to $2.6 million per year! Aside from the cost of training a new employee, losing strong employees can reduce workplace morale, break key customer relationships, and even affect your brand if it was the result of a tumultuous relationship.

Diversity and Inclusion. These buzz words have been pushed to the forefront of headlines with movements such as #MeToo and the growing focus on the overall makeup of the organization. Diversity can take many forms: racial, gender, sexual, religious, physical ability, etc. It can even involve varying education and work experience levels. Often diversity and inclusion are used interchangeably but in reality, they are two separate ideas. While having a diverse talent pool of employees is admirable, it does not make a difference unless the organization also has a policy of inclusiveness where employees feel supported, appreciated and welcomed to go with it.

Laughter, like yawning, can be contagious. It is the best (free) medicine on the market. Yet oftentimes we as adults do not get enough does of it in our lives. There is an urban myth that states children laugh 300-400 times a day while adults only laugh 15-20 times a day. We get it: we have a lot of responsibilities, there’s work to be done and everyone is relying on us. But losing our funny bone does not make us more productive, creative or help us cope better with life. In fact, it has the opposite effect. Well, the good news is today is another day to infuse more laughter into our lives AND it just happens to be the start of Laugh at Work Week!

In case you haven’t noticed, we sure love a reason to celebrate. Every month in the calendar is filled with real (and made up) holidays and observances that promote various causes and special interests. Some were even created specifically to support businesses. April is the national month for more than fifty causes and special interests. These observances offer something for everyone, ranging from Autism, American Cancer Society, and Women’s Health Care to Amateur Radio, Fresh Florida Tomato, and Pets are Wonderful. For more information on April causes or to view other observances for the coming months, visit sites such as National Day Calendar and Holiday Insights.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) just opened the door for new U.S. tariffs against the European Union starting October 18th. The recent decision by the WTO ruled in the favor of the United States in their 15 year long battle against subsidies the EU provides to airplane maker Airbus.  In addition to airplanes, the office of the United States Trade Representative released a list of items imported from Europe that will now be subject to tariffs. Included among those items are electro-mechanical tools, backhoes, wool sweaters, coffees, olives, cheese, and many liquors.

On the heels of a strong holiday season, small business owners should be feeling quite optimistic as we roll into 2020. The American economy was gifted with reduced economic uncertainty, capping off what has been - while not spectacular - a very solid year of economic growth. At this point last year, and throughout the majority of this year, most economic analysts out there were predicting a recession of the US economy. No one could believe that the current economic expansion could possibly continue into a record 11th year.