Wage Inflation Poses Biggest Risk in U.S. Consumer Stocks
Some industries hit especially hard by the coronavirus pandemic now face an outsized threat from wage inflation, according to Savita Subramanian, Bank of America Corp.’s chief U.S. equity strategist. In a report Tuesday, Subramanian compared the S&P 500 Index’s 11 main industry groups based on their use of labor. The consumer-discretionary group, which includes retailers, hotels and restaurant chains, employed the most people for every $1 million of revenue. They had almost six times as many workers as S&P 500 energy companies, which were the least dependent on labor.