with almost all the gains in education and health care, both demographic outcomes. Still, not every sector was growing. Professional and business services shed about 30,000 jobs, and hiring in the leisure and hospitality sector remained muted, adding only 1,000 positions in February.

with fuel prices rising everywhere. Natural prices in Europe are up 80%, with Qatar shut down. One guy with one drone can shut down the Straits of Hormuz, which accounts for 20% of global oil supply. For Europe, sustained higher energy prices would take the economy to the brink of recession. For the US, they would place the Federal Reserve in an impossible position — stuck between a war that pushes inflation higher and a president demanding that interest rates come down. For China, the end of discounted Iranian oil imports adds to the strain from Trump’s tariffs and a real estate collapse.

Just what we need in the face of an unfolding global recession. Too many balls in the air at one time.

the best report in 3 ½ year. New orders were at 58.

down 12%, as margin calls run rampant. South Korea has no energy supplies and is totally dependent on imports from the Middle East. South Korea is the world's fourth-largest buyer ​of oil, and around 70% of its purchases come from the Middle East. Korean equities had been Asia's best-performing, having doubled over the past year, making ​them particularly vulnerable to a capitulation, traders said. The benchmark KOSPI fell 698.37 points, or 12.06%, to close at 5,093.54, marking the biggest ⁠daily percentage loss in its history dating back to 1980. It lost as much as 12.65% during the session.