The US jobs report for August revealed a lower-than-expected gain in nonfarm payrolls, with 142,000 jobs added compared with 165,000 expected in a Bloomberg forecast. The unemployment rate came down to 4.2%, and average hourly earnings rose by 0.4% month over month, suggesting that workers retain some bargaining power. Notably, revisions to prior months removed 86,000 jobs, underscoring a weaker payroll level than initially reported.

Specialty building materials distributor US LBM is bolstering its market presence in Colorado by acquiring Gregory Door & Window, a Breckenridge-based distributor and installer serving residential and commercial builders. The deal allows US LBM to offer expanded services and products in the Denver area and other key regions in the Rocky Mountains.

Graybar subsidiary Cape Electrical Supply has acquired Power Supply Company, a Chattanooga, Tenn.-based electric utility distributor that serves customers in Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Cape Electrical President Bryant Summers said the deal broadens the firm's reach, provides growth opportunities and improves the improves the organizations' service capabilities.

Individuals without high school diplomas have entered the US workforce at a record rate, pushing the workforce participation rate among the cohort to 49% in July, the highest in more than three decades of record keeping. Surging participation over the past 18 months has helped alleviate labor shortages in industries like restaurants, retail and construction. However, the influx has also increased competition for low-skilled jobs, leading to higher unemployment rates among this group and contributing to the overall US jobless rate.

Creating an elastic supply chain that can expand or contract in response to geopolitical risks can provide companies more flexibility than operating within a single geopolitical bloc that feels comfortable, according to a Gartner report. Gartner outlines three key actions for achieving this: understanding trust boundaries, assessing elastic supply chain opportunities and using targeted scenario planning.

Customer experience should be at the center of a brand, writes Miri Patrenko Laufer, head of digital and customer experience for the Nerivio brand at Theranica. "By linking CX initiatives directly to key business metrics -- such as revenue growth, customer retention and brand loyalty -- your company can focus on achieving tangible outcomes," Laufer writes.

AI may take over some work from humans, but human wisdom, especially among leaders, will always be in demand, writes Chip Conley, the founder & CEO of MEA, who outlines six qualities of a wise leader, including the ability to spot patterns and glean insights from them along with being comfortable with paradox and differing opinions. "A wise leader creates the space for people to not always toe the company line, whether that means they're dissenting in a meeting or submitting a crazy new idea for the company," Conley writes.

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