Good morning. On today’s docket:

• 📊 How US consumers are doing in this economy
• 🔠 How to improve your Wordle score in 45 seconds
• 🤔 Has the tipping era peaked?

… and more.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be about a 4.96-minute read.

P.S. First time reading? Subscribe here for free.

“Peace is the result of retraining your mind to process life as it is, rather than as you think it should be. ”

–Wayne Dyer (1940-2015)

US retail sales rose unexpectedly last month as the holiday shopping season got off to a brisk start, according to a Commerce Department report published Thursday.

The news extended a week of positive readings for the US economy: the unemployment rate fell in November, inflation cooled, and the Federal Reserve said it’s pivoting away from raising interest rates and is now considering when to cut them.

• The good vibes have also spread to the stock market, where all three major indexes are in the midst of their longest weekly winning streak since 2017, pushing the Dow to a new record high.

Some other consumer-focused things you should know about the US economy

Auto market: It’s a tough time to be in the market for a vehicle – buying or selling. Prices for new vehicles remain elevated, the Fed’s recent interest rate hikes have made auto loans more expensive, and used-car values have depreciated by over 20% since early 2022.

Housing: Average US mortgage rates fell below 7% last week for the first time since August, though rates remain near a 23-year high set two months ago. Median US home prices and rent have both risen at an annual rate of ~3% so far this year, with both figures projected to decline in 2024 and bring down overall US inflation.

Wages and inflation: Inflation outpaced average US income growth by multiple percentage points for most of 2022 – but that trend reversed this year, with average wages growing by 5.2% through November compared to 3.9% inflation over the same period. Still, a CBS News poll published last week found more than three-quarters of Americans (76%) say their income isn’t keeping up with inflation.

• One possible explanation: the recent loss of pandemic-era aid from the government has left lower-income Americans materially poorer.
• Adjusting for government transfers and taxes, the average annual income for the lower half of US earners is currently $26,100 – down from $34,800 when President Biden took office nearly three years ago, per an analysis by Cal Berkeley economist Gabriel Zucman.

👀 Looking ahead... The US economy is on track to achieve a “soft landing” and avoid a recession next year as inflation returns to the ~2.0% level the Fed considers normal, according to projections released Friday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

📊 Flash poll: In general, do you consider yourself better off, worse off, or about the same compared to before the pandemic?

• Better off
• Worse off
• About the same

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💥 Israel-Hamas war update: On Friday, Israel’s military said its troops accidentally killed three Israeli hostages who were carrying a makeshift white flag in a combat zone in Gaza, describing the incident as a tragic violation of rules of engagement that prohibit shooting anyone who is surrendering. Israel’s military yesterday announced the discovery of a 2.5-mile underground tunnel near what was once a busy border crossing between Gaza and Israel, which officials say was used to transit vehicles, militants, and supplies for Hamas’ October 7 surprise attack.

🇻🇦 The Vatican’s criminal court convicted a cardinal for the first time. Cardinal Angelo Becciu, a former advisor to Pope Francis, was convicted of embezzlement and fraud and sentenced to 5.5 years in prison following an extended trial process. The case revolved around the Vatican’s ~$400 million purchase of a building in London that church leaders argue was criminally overvalued, resulting in church losses of $150 million. Becciu has repeatedly denied the charges and plans to appeal his case.

🇬🇧 Prince Harry won a partial victory in his phone hacking lawsuit against a UK tabloid group. The British royal initially sued the Daily Mirror and its sister publications in 2019 for hacking into his voicemail in the 1990s and early 2000s to get scoops for 33 articles. London's High Court ruled in Harry's favor in 15 of the 33 instances and awarded him ~$180,000 in damages, saying newspaper executives knew about the hacking and tried to cover it up. The case is the first of three lawsuits Harry has filed against UK tabloids over allegations of unlawful information gathering.

Yesterday, the NY Times issued its first report analyzing how players approach its daily Wordle puzzle, which drew more than half a billion attempts over the past year.

Some key takeaways:

• You should probably bid adieu to your starting word. The most popular opener by a nearly 2x margin is “adieu” – despite it being the least efficient option among all top-30 starting words. For those feeling called out by this fact (🙋), the Times ranks “slate,” “crane,” and “trace” as the best possible openers.
• Some of you are big ol’ pumpkin eaters. On average, players guess the answer correctly on the first try once every 250 games – a rate far higher than if things were left up to chance. Analysts largely attribute this discrepancy to cheating, but also note some players could be re-entering a solution to maintain a streak.
• The hardest Wordle of 2023 was “Jazzy.” The word, which combines all three hardest Wordle sub-categories (starts with J, ends in Y, contains a double letter), took players 5.82 out of 6 turns to solve on average.

🤖🧠 Looking to improve your scores? Try using the WordleBot. In general, the Times found average WordleBot users – aka those who click on the “Did you beat the bot?” link upon completion – take a quarter-turn less to solve the puzzle than the average player.

Now, armed with this knowledge, it’s time for Dunkers to take the Wordle world by storm💪.

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💬 Quoted… “There’s an ongoing rejection of the whole system by both workers and consumers who have been increasingly pissed about it.”

• The tipping era, aka the period when even your mechanic flipped around a screen at payment-time to show three big squares, may have already peaked. As of last month, service-sector workers in nonrestaurant leisure and hospitality jobs made $1.28/hour on average in tips, down 7% from the $1.38/hour they made a year prior. But the data, drawn from an analysis of 300,000 small and medium-sized businesses by payroll provider Gusto, tells a different story about the profession we most-associate with tips – restaurant workers. Restaurant workers earned an average of $3.83/hour in tips and overtime in November, the WSJ reports, up 8% from the previous year. Though this traditional tip system is also under fire – in October, Chicago became the second-largest US city to vote to require tipped workers to make the full minimum wage. And legislation to get rid of tipped minimums is moving in eight states and measures are on the ballot in an additional four, according to worker-advocacy organization One Fair Wage.

🎁🎉 Stat of the Day: Office holiday parties in 2023 are like the sunset when the days start to turn cold – getting earlier and earlier. A November poll of more than 200 companies conducted by executive outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas found that nearly 60% will be hosting their holiday gatherings during the traditional workday this year, up from less than half last year. Another office holiday party data point: 64% of companies are planning gatherings this year, up from 57% in 2022 – though they could be sparsely attended affairs. A LinkedIn survey of 6,000+ people indicated that 55% of workers aren’t planning to attend their company’s holiday party this year.

🤔 Did You Know?... Less than 40% of young Americans say they are regular drinkers (38%), compared with 40% for older adults and 48% for middle-age Americans. In previous decades, young adults were more likely than older ones to drink regularly, according to Gallup polling.

📰 Worth a Read: Seven Months Inside an Online Scam Labor Camp → (NY Times)

• 👆 You’re looking at some of the winners from the 2023 Environmental Photographer of the Year contest, which featured thousands of entrants from across the globe.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with FinanceBuzz

• 💰 US markets closed mixed on Friday (S&P: -0.01%; Dow: +0.2%; Nasdaq: +0.4%).
• 👍 The Teamsters union voted 99% in favor of authorizing a strike against Anheuser-Busch if the two sides are unable to reach an agreement on a new labor contract by the end of February. | 📰 Dozens of NY Times staffers have created what they deem an "independence caucus" within the NewsGuild-CWA, a labor union founded by newspaper journalists.
• 🎮 Activision Blizzard, a video game maker purchased by Microsoft for $69 billion, agreed to pay ~$54 million to settle discrimination claims brought by California’s civil rights agency on behalf of AB’s female employees.

*From our partners: 🤯 Five things many Amazon Prime users don’t know… Every Amazon shopper should know about these clever Amazon hacks. They’ll help you earn cash, save money, cancel unwanted subscriptions, and more. Start saving (and making) money with these Amazon hacks today.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• SCOREBOARD: 🏐 College volleyball: Texas beat Nebraska to win their second straight NCAA women's volleyball national championship. | 🏈 CFB: Bowl season kicked off on Saturday with a slate of seven games. See the results. | 🏈 NFL: Read a full Week 15 recap.
• 🍿 Wonka, starring Timothée Chalamet, topped the US box office, bringing in $39 million its opening weekend.
• 🙏 Matthew Perry died from the "acute effects of ketamine," per an autopsy report released by the LA County medical examiner.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with Coop

• 🌊🧊 North America's first people may have arrived via sea ice highway as early as 24,000 years ago, a new study suggests.
• 🌴🚶 A lush, green Sahara Desert likely helped early humans migrate out of Africa, per new research.
• 🚀 SpaceX’s launch of the US military's secretive X-37B space plane was pushed to December 28. Dive deeper. | Ten facts about the US Space Force’s X-37-B plane.

*From our partners: 💤 Get the best sleep of your life… The Original from Coop is adjustable to provide unmatched comfort. Made with a hypoallergenic blend of microfibre and memory foam, it’s Consumer Reports’ #1-rated pillow. Get the Original from Coop.

MISCELLANEOUS

• 📝 A jury ordered Rudy Giuliani to pay $148 million in damages for defaming two Georgia election workers as part of his alleged efforts to undermine the results of the 2020 presidential election.
• 😬 Quaker Oats issued a recall of some of its granola bars and cereals over fear of salmonella contamination; the recalled products include various flavors of Quaker Big Chewy Bars and variety packs, as well as Quaker Simply Granola cereals. (See the full list.)
• ⛈️ A severe storm system that battered Florida and South Carolina with heavy rain and coastal flooding over the weekend started to hit New York City and other northern East Coast cities.

CLICKBAIT

• 🗣️🧠 Your perception of time and space is radically altered by the language you speak.

Monday: Justice Sandra Day O’Connor will lie in repose at the Supreme Court

Tuesday: National Hard Candy Day

Wednesday: Percy Jackson and the Olympians debuts on Disney+

Thursday: The Winter Solstice, aka shortest day of the year

Friday: Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom hits theaters nationwide

On Friday, we covered the US government’s newly approved $886 billion defense spending and policy bill, which is $28 billion higher than last year and represents ~14% of America’s overall federal budget.

❓ Our question to you: In your opinion, is the US government spending too much, too little, or about the right amount on its defense budget?

• 👎 Too much: 57%
• 👍 Too little: 20%
• 👌 About the right amount: 23%

Click here to read more of the best responses.

+Note on sample size: We received 6,873 votes and 446 longform responses.

🚂 Commuting issues... Anyone who uses public transportation knows the headache that can come with train delays. 

• For some New Jersey train-riders heading into New York City earlier this month, a 45-minute delay was caused by a rogue Texas Longhorn stuck on the tracks seemingly out of nowhere. 
• The steer, nicknamed Ricardo during the ordeal, startled multiple police officers and animal rescue crews in the event. Officials believe he escaped a nearby slaughterhouse before getting stuck on the train tracks.

🐄 Final destination: Eventually, Ricardo was tranquilized and brought safely to Skyland Animal Sanctuary and Rescue, where he'll live out the rest of his days in animal luxury.

Guess the definitions of the following Greek/Latin root words:

1. Ar
2. Can
3. Col
4. Dorm
5. Erg

(keep scrolling for the answers)

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1. Ar = Dry (e.g., arid)
2. Can = Dog (canine)
3. Col = Strain (colander)
4. Dorm = Sleep (dormitory, dormant)
5. Erg = Work (ergonomics)