This past week has been strong for the U.S. Dollar Index DXY — its best since October 2022, in fact. It’s a far cry from the first half of this year, when the index lost almost 11% — the worst first-half return on record since the index was created in the early 1970s.

Forcing already cautious consumers to deal with higher prices as the job market weakens is a dangerous economic mix.

U .S. stocks closed markedly lower on Friday, a day after President Donald Trump signed an executive order slapping new tariffs on dozens of countries. A weak jobs report worsened investor jitters, revealing a slowdown of hiring over recent months as Trump's previous tariffs took hold.