“Wage inflation is a bullish sign, and it’s here…”

Bloomberg reports there were 5 million job openings in the U.S. as of January 31. That’s more than double the 2.1 million openings back in July 2009. The Labor Department also showed payrolls rose in 39 states in January. The unemployment rate fell in 24 of them.

The increase in job openings is the result of a growing economy. The more “want ads” out there, the more employers must compete for qualified labor. This competition drives wage growth. Higher wages are a sign of economic expansion.

Here are some other examples:

  • Walmart is the world’s largest retailer. It announced in February it will raise its minimum hourly wage for all employees to more than $9 per hour. That’s $1.75 above the federal minimum wage.

  • Target is the second-largest retailer behind Walmart. It’s raising hourly wages to at least $9 per hour this month.

  • The world’s largest restaurant chain, McDonald’s, just announced it’s raising wages by more than 10%. (From $9.01 to $9.90 per hour, effective July 1.)

  The news won’t surprise regular Daily readers. That’s because they’ve seen Mega Trends Investing Editor Teeka Tiwari reaffirm his “unpopular” bullish view on the U.S. economy time and again in these pages…

Teeka says we’ve entered a massive, new 14-year secular bull market in stocks. A massive demographic shift in the U.S. population happening right now—something he calls The Golden Ratio—will drive it.

In the seven-minute clip below, Teeka explains why the jobs numbers mentioned above are an economic “telltale.” They’ll power up the next leg for the markets over 2015. Click on the button below to listen, for free.

The headlines may continue to flash scary stories of doom… but our job as contrarian investors remains the same: Filter out the noise. Focus on the data. And invest in powerful companies when they’re cheap, have a wide competitive moat, and sit atop explosive growth trends reworking the world.