West Virginia had the highest rate of openings in June 2025, at 6.0 percent, while Washington had the lowest job openings rate, at 3.7 percent, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Nevada came in at 4.1 percent: 

As of June 2025 

BLS infomap caption: Job openings rates decreased in four states and increased in one state in June 2025. Over the month, hires rates decreased in 11 states and increased in one state. Total separations rates decreased in two states and increased in one state. Nationally, the job openings, hires, and total separations rates showed little change in June. 

These data are from the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey and are seasonally adjusted. Data for the most recent month are preliminary. For more information, see “State Job Openings and Labor Turnover — June 2025” and charts featuring state labor turnover data. 

The Fed 

The Federal Reserve’s big annual meeting of global central bankers in lovely Jackson Hole, Wyoming, was a less than unified event. Governors Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman voted to keep fed fund rates at current levels, marking the first time in more than three decades that multiple governors voted against a rate decision. 

Chair Jerome Powell signaled a likely interest-rate reduction as soon as September, despite concerns stated by his team of policymakers, boosting U.S. bond prices. Market-watchers now eagerly await key inflation data this week.  

Ten-year trend of the Fed Funds effective rate: 

As of July 2025 

President Trump has for weeks been putting pressure on Powell and the Fed to cut rates. Whatever the outcome, the resignation earlier this month of Governor Adriana Kugler means Trump will get to appoint yet another candidate to the board. 

Powell’s term as chair expires in May 2026, though he can serve as a governor through 2028. 

The White House has helpfully identified 11 potential candidates for Powell’s seat. 

Distress Indicators 

Nevada is ranked fourth among the states that scored poorly for financial distress indicators, including the number of people with credit accounts in distress and significant increases in bankruptcy filings, according to a WalletHub analysis for the period from March 2024 to March 2025. 

As of March 2025 

On average, compared to other states, Nevadans did not improve their credit score year over year: 

As of March 2025 

“Top” 20 ranking graphic from Visual Capitalist: 

As of March 2025 

Finally, an interesting comparison for politically inclined Fact Pack readers: 

As of March 2025 

Homebuilder Confidence 

U.S. homebuilder confidence fell this month to the lowest level since 2022, per an index of housing market conditions from the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo. 

The report revealed that builders are increasing their already ample basket of “sweeteners” — the share of builders using sales incentives climbed to a post-pandemic high of 66 percent, and an elevated 37 percent reported cutting prices. 

Notably, the number of properties sold to non-US citizens ticked up for the first time in eight years. Sales of existing U.S. real estate to non-U.S. citizens hit $56 billion in the year through March, up 33 percent from the same period the year before, according to a report by the National Association of Realtors. 

Sales of new single-family houses in July 2025 in the U.S. were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 652,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. 

That was 0.6 percent below the June 2025 rate of 656,000, and 8.2 percent below the July 2024 rate of 710,000. 

The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of July 2025 was 499,000. This is 0.6 percent below the June 2025 estimate of 502,000, and 7.3 percent above the July 2024 estimate of 465,000, per the U.S. Census Bureau. 

The number represents a supply of 9.2 months at the current sales rate, virtually unchanged from the June 2025 estimate of 9.2 months, but 16.5 percent above the July 2024 estimate of 7.9 months. 

The median sales price of new houses sold in the U.S. in July 2025 was $403,800 — 0.8 percent below the June 2025 price of $407,200, and 5.9 percent below the July 2024 price of $429,000.  

Canadian Walk-Back 

Canada is re-thinking some of its retaliatory tariffs, a concession aimed at cooling tensions with the U.S., Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Friday. He noted during his remarks in Ottawa that the average U.S. tariff rate on Canadian goods is 5.6 percent, the lowest among America’s trading partners. 

Canada had targeted imports of U.S. goods that comply with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement with a 25 percent tariff as a response to a trade dispute initiated by President Donald Trump’s March tariffs on Canadian products, energy and critical minerals. Canada’s retreat followed the White House’s expansion of its 50 percent tariff on steel and aluminum imports to include 407 new products.  

Related data: 

As of 2024 

Carney said Friday that he’d like USMCA talks to begin next month, adding he expects them to stretch between 6 and 18 months. 

Transportation & Logistics Deal Making 

The transportation & logistics private equity market in the U.S. in Q2 2025 saw the number of deals decrease by 9 percent from Q1, and cumulative deal value dropped 69 percent Quarter-over-Quarter to $3.5 billion—the lowest since Q1 2024. The numbers reflect the challenging trade environment, which is keeping some investors on the sidelines. 

Some segments bucked the downward trend, including a doubling from Q1 of transportation software deal value to $468 million, and a jump of freight forwarding deals from $288 million to $1 billion, reflecting demand for solutions that help companies navigate increasingly complex global supply chains. 

Source: PitchBook 

As of 06/30/25 

High-Speed Rail Report 

A recent report on California’s high-speed rail plan and balance sheet showed $87 billion in ballooning costs caused in part by a series of route changes, revealing a need for billions more in public funding following news of the termination of about $4 billion in federal grants. 

Delays are expected for certain new routes, according to multiple news sources. California‘s long-delayed high-speed rail project in the Central Valley could still be completed by 2032, but the report confirmed the state is a long way from securing funding needed to finish connecting north toward the San Francisco Bay Area and south toward Los Angeles. 

Gov. Gavin Newsom wants lawmakers to reauthorize the state’s cap-and-trade program through 2045 and flag $1 billion a year to go toward high-speed rail.

(Note: We bring you this news in part because Newsom is mulling a bid for president, and in part because high speed rail between California and Nevada has become a matter of interest to Fact Pack readers.) 

Expensive Zips 

The median price for a home in the top 10 percent of houses for sale nationwide is $1.3 million, according to available data provided by Realtor.com. In most regions, that price will get you a pretty nice home. In the country’s priciest neighborhoods, it barely scratches the surface — not only because of location but also because of square footage. 

Realtor.com looked at ZIP codes with at least 30 active listings and found the 10 most expensive in the nation, finding the median listing price among the ZIP codes in this exclusive club starts at nearly $6 million. 

Source: Realtor.com

As of July 2025 

The top 5 percent of homes nationally list for around $5.5 million, and just under 14 percent of active listings are priced above $1 million, notes Realtor.com. 

Ownership Motives 

What draws people to business ownership? The top reasons cited by business owners, according to the 2023 U.S. Census Bureau’s Annual Business Survey (ABS): to make more money and be their own boss. Compared to ABS data from 2021, only one reason in the newer survey was statistically different: “couldn’t find a job”. More respondents cited that reason in 2022 (7.4 percent) than in 2021 (7.0 percent). 

As of 2022: 

Source: U.S. Census Bureau 

Data as of 2022 

(Note: Nearly half (49.3 percent) of respondents were first-time business owners and more than a third (35.9 percent) had a second business that was still operational.) 

More than half of employer businesses surveyed (57.2 percent) were acquired after 1999, according to the 2023 ABS, which references data from 2022. Over one third (35.2 percent) of employer businesses were acquired between 2010 and 2019, and one fifth (20.7 percent) between 2000 and 2009.  

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Data as of 2022 

Coffee 

Keurig Dr Pepper is about to get a caffeine boost — and then some. The company is buying JDE Peet’s and its more than 50 coffee and tea brands around the world for about $18.4 billion, per Bloomberg. 

Keurig Dr Pepper is seeking to bolster its struggling coffee business, as are other coffee companies struggling with inflation, supply chain issues, and the impact of U.S. tariffs on bean-producing countries. 

As of 07/18/24 

Demand for coffee has seen a substantial increase over the past 20 years: 

As of 07/19/24 

Labor Day 

We cheerfully end this edition of Fact Pack with a nod to its first observance on Sept. 5, 1882, when thousands of workers assembled in cities across the country — including New York — for a parade. 

In subsequent years, the parade inspired similar events across the country. By 1894 more than half the states in America were observing a “workingmen’s holiday” on one day or another. 

Later that year, Congress passed, and President Grover Cleveland signed, a bill designating the first Monday in September as “Labor Day.” 

Labor Day parade in Buffalo, NY in 1900. Public domain image. 

The first Labor Day marches are considered by most historians to be the start of the labor movement in America. The Bureau of Labor and Statistics helpfully provides union membership data for the states: 

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics 

As of 2024 

Fact Pack will be dark for Labor Day week — we’ll see you in two weeks! 

On the Horizon

Marketwatch calendar: 

Data & Dialogue About the Economy



The Fact Pack is a monthly business e-report co-authored by Mike PeQueen of Hightower Las Vegas and John Restrepo of RCG Economics, which combines important metrics relevant to business decision makers and financial commentary on the current issues facing the economy.

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