ADP data on private sector employment was disappointing and pointed to a potential weak national joblessness announcement on Friday. The information, added to consumer confidence, housing, and a faltering manufacturing environment are more indications…
So far it has only been Kansas City Fed President Hoenig who has dissented against the policy of no or low rates. There may not be a direct change on that stance, but some…
The reading for the Chicago Business Barometer for August just hit the lows of 2010. The reading of 56.7 compares to a reading of 62.3 in July. Dow Jones had expectations of 57.6 projected,…
Someone forgot to tell a number of the world’s leading economists that the economy has begun to turn down. A panel of 242 members of the National Association for Business Economics found that nearly…
A new study of 350 senior corporate executives posted results which look like those of many surveys of American consumers. The recession is not over, and, in fact, will not end until sometime next…
Fed-Head Ben Bernanke is trying to convey that the Federal Reserve can still take action if needed. He is trying to convey a message of more unconventional stimulus, an action path if deflation arises,…
The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers released its August report and the consumer will not be pulling the economy out of its current damaged state. The Sentiment Index was 68.9 in the…
The Department of Commerce cut its GDP figure to 1.6% from the previous estimate of 2.4%. The change was due to factors including inventory changes and the strength of imports. The number could have…
New home sales cratered, according to the Commerce Department. The news comes one day after similar news on existing home sales “Sales of new single-family houses in July 2010 were at a seasonally adjusted…
Durable goods orders dropped 3.8% when transportation goods were backed out. Total new orders for manufactured goods rose .3%, less than expected, to $193 billion, according to the Commerce Department. Inventories of manufactured durable…
Credit research company TransUnion said that credit card debt hit an eight-year low in the second quarter of 2010. It is likely to go lower. The average combined debt of those individuals fell to…
The Congressional Budget Office says that in the second quarter the effects of $787 billion package added 1.7% to 4.5% in GDP, cut the unemployment rate by .7 to 1.8 percentage points, and increased…
The Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI Quarterly Economic Forecast predicts that inflation-adjusted gross domestic product (GDP) will expand by 2.9 percent in 2010, followed by 2.6 percent growth in 2011. The forecast is down slightly from the…
A city does not die when its last resident moves away. Death happens when municipalities lose the industries and vital populations that made them important cities. The economy has evolved so much since the…
A young Russian woman capably sat my family at an Ocean City, New Jersey restaurant during our recent vacation. A day later I saw the same person working at a souvenir store on the…