Is the U.S. Headed Toward a Budget Surplus?
U.S. National Park ServiceThe last time the United States had a budget surplus was in 2001, according the White House. Unimaginably, it may have one again, and within a very few years. The Congressional…
Economy
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Newest first · Page 292Are Lower Food Prices Coming?
ThinkstockCommodity prices for corn, wheat and soybeans have tumbled in the past three months and could fall even further as plenty of rain and warm — but not too warm — temperatures have boosted…
Small Business Optimism Slips on Expectations of Weak Economy
ThinkstockThe National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Tuesday morning reported that its small business optimism index for June fell 1.6 points from 96.6 in April to 95.0. The June reading breaks a string of…
As Rhode Island Raises Minimum Wage To $9, Worry About Economy
Rhode Island the highest unemployment rates in the U.S. Now, it has a $9 minimum wage, up $1 and well above the national floor of $7.25. More than any other state, the move may…
Good News on the Trade Deficit, Thanks to Petroleum
ThinkstockThe U.S. Department of Commerce has released its report on international trade in the month of May. This is known as the trade deficit to the rest of us. May’s trade deficit narrowed to…
Unemployment and Payrolls From June Bring Great Progress in Jobs
Ed Brown, via Wikimedia CommonsThe U.S. Labor Department has released its June payrolls and unemployment report, and ADP’s gains on Wednesday turned out to be more accurate than many skeptics thought. Unemployment came in…
What Happened to Normal 5% Unemployment?
ThinkstockUnemployment may drop as low as 6% in the next few months, down from the current 6.3% level. However, a recovered U.S. economy has been marked by a 5% jobless rate, which is months,…
What to Expect From Labor Department on Unemployment and Payrolls
This Thursday will mark a very unusual event in economic reporting. Since this week holds the first Friday of the month, we are supposed to get the Labor Department’s Unemployment and Payrolls report. That…
OECD Projects Slowing Global Growth, Rising Income Equality to 2060
ThinkstockA new study from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) projects that global economic growth will slow and income inequality will continue to rise to 2060. The “Policy Challenges for the Next…
ADP and TrimTabs Signal Very Different Labor Department Payrolls Report
ThinkstockStocks have closed at record levels yet again, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) came only a point or so shy of 17,000 ahead of this week’s key Labor Department report on payrolls…
Two Strong Manufacturing Reports Signal Better Q2 GDP Reading
ThinkstockTuesday brought two manufacturing readings for measuring the U.S. economy. The data might be considered mixed when you look at the Markit PMI reading versus the ISM Manufacturing Index. Still, both point to a…
Global Growth Forecasts Have Downside Risks in 2014, 2015 and 2016
ThinkstockWith all the quantitative easing in the United States, Europe, Japan, China and elsewhere, you would think that trajectory for the global recovery and global growth is well on track. It turns out that…
Richmond Fed President Lacker Warns of Rate Hikes
Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker was a continuous voice of dissent on quantitative easing for quite some time. So, it should be no surprise that he is calling for rate hikes from the Federal…
Personal Income and Spending May Limit Q2 GDP Recovery
ThinkstockWe have already seen a slightly lower reading on weekly jobless claims on Thursday, but the more important report is on personal income and spending. The U.S. Commerce Department reported that personal income rose…
Weekly Jobless Claims Come in Lower but Look Flat
ThinkstockThe U.S. Labor Department has issued its weekly jobless claims, and we saw another drop in claims. Unfortunately, that decline was only by 2,000, down to 312,000. The prior week was also revised from…