ThinkstockIt may be that economists are wrong so often that their forecasts about growth and the odds for or against future recessions are of little value. Nevertheless, the National Association of Business Economics (NABE) July…
Ed Brown, via Wikimedia CommonsThe U.S. Labor Department has released its weekly jobless claims. Frankly, the market already had a stellar unemployment and payrolls report last week, and this data was covering the Fourth…
ThinkstockWhile the nation’s unemployment rate dipped to 6.1% in June, which was heralded as substantial progress, the jobless rate in several of cities in California is double, or even triple, this national number. Because…
ThinkstockThe latest Conference Board Measure of CEO Confidence shows a decline in the second quarter after an increase in the first quarter. The index reading fell to 62 from 63 in the prior quarter.…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
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…