Payroll service company ADP says the private sector added 179,000 jobs in July. Big government jobs report is on Friday.
 
Consumer spending rose 0.4% in June. Consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity. Consumer spending rose at a 4.2% annual rate, the fastest in nearly two years. There is little sign of inflation. The personal consumption expenditures price index, rose 0.1% in June. In the 12 months through June the core PCE increased 1.6%. Personal income rose 0.2% in June. Savings fell to $732 billion, the lowest level since March 2015. (Commerce Department)
 
University of Michigan economics professor Mark Perry and Michael Saltsman say the $15-an-hour minimum wage proposal will lead to fewer entry level jobs, making already-high youth unemployment rates even worse. Perry and Saltsman say the high rate of youth unemployment shows that the current minimum wage is too high, and they worry that a wage increase would cause more young people to lose their jobs and turn to lives of idleness and crime. (WSJ)
 
Ford Motor Company, the only domestic auto maker not to be bailed out with your tax dollars, saw July sales fall 3%. General Motors' sales fell 2%. Fiat Chrysler sales rose 0.3%. The pent-up demand that has helped drive sales since 2009 seems to be satisfied. (Reuters)
 
S&P 500 is down 2 and the NASDAQ is down 6.  MSCI International Index is down 0.50%.
 
Oil is up 33 cents at $39.87 a barrel.
 
Gold is up $1 at $1373 a Troy ounce.
 
With Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management, a Registered Investment Advisor I am Troy Reinhart.