Macro chatter: Mark Zuckerberg falls off richest billionaires list

Need to know:

It’s a big day for economic news in the US ahead of tomorrow’s highly anticipated monthly jobs report, and the previews aren't looking good.

A report out this morning said US companies added 133,000 jobs in May. Meanwhile a separate report from the US Labor Department showed new claims for unemployment benefits hit a five-week high. 

The US economy also didn't grow as quickly as the government had initially thought in the first quarter. The Commerce Department reported US GDP expanded by just 1.9 percent in the first quarter instead of the 2.2 percent it had initially reported. 

Want to know:

India’s economy may be slowing down, but Dunkin Donuts is just getting started on the subcontinent.

Dunkin Donuts is planning to open 100 new stores in India over the next five years. Dunkin Donuts began opening stores in India this month and has already seen sales outpace its expectations.

The company now serves India’s population of more than a billion people with just three stores. 

Dull but important:

How’s this for irony? The European Central Bank said eight countries in line to join the euro zone will have to wait because their economies aren’t quite ready yet.

Of course, some of these countries are doing better than a few current euro zone members.

Still, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Sweden were each lacking in some way, the ECB said.

Each of the countries managed to get in under the ECB’s 60 percent debt-to-GDP cap, something Greece, Italy, Ireland and Portugal weren’t able to do last year. Greece’s debt-to-GDP ratio in 2011 came in at nearly three times the ECB limit. 

Just because:

Mark Zuckerberg has been on quite the rollercoaster ride this month, and it’s not over yet. There was the pre-IPO, the IPO, a surprise wedding, a disclosure scandal and a trading snafu on IPO day. Now Zuck’s wallet is getting smaller.

The Facebook founder and CEO has slid off the Bloomberg billionaire index. Zuckerberg’s net worth has been falling alongside Facebook’s share price, and the Zuck is down about $1.5 billion.

He’s also no longer one of the 40 richest people in the world.

Wonder if he’ll add that to his timeline? Then again, it has been a busy month. 

Strange but true: 

If you’re looking to book a cheap summer trip, book it for the last weekend before Labor Day.

The weekend of Aug 24 to 26 is officially the cheapest weekend for Americans to fly this summer, ABC said, citing a Travelocity analysis of booking data. Of course, a pre-Labor Day escape will still set you back about $600.

That’s better than folks traveling over Memorial Day did. Flights over Memorial Day weekend averaged around $661.