A strong U.S. economy leads the way into May as the public market remains steady. As the number of deployed connected devices has grown to over 23bn, solving the talent crunch emerges as a top priority for many companies regardless of size. A study by Experis found that the demand for IoT labor remains robust, but the lack of security skills is preventing growth while PTC lowered its 2019 bookings guidance due to difficulty finding, hiring and training talent. Other clouds are looming over continued U.S-China trade wars build over tariffs and export restrictions.