Update 606 — Fed’s 50 bp Rate Hike:Tight Labor Market Cause and Effect Per this morning’s jobs report, the US economy added 428,000 jobs in April, average hourly wages are up 5.5 percent from a year ago, and unemployment stayed at a mere 3.6 percent – a near 50-year low – showing that Americans are getting back …
Update 528 — From Saving to Spending:The Consumer’s Role in the US Recovery Consumer spending comprises 70 percent of GDP, so big changes in consumer behavior bear directly on growth more than any other factor. Per the Bureau of Economic Analysis, total personal income in the U.S. increased $4.21 trillion in March. This 21.1 percent …
Update 520 — Macro Reconciliation Act:Survey of Labor and Capital Markets 1Q21 Despite strong numbers coming out of the March jobs report, the economy still has 8.4 million fewer employed Americans than it did a year ago. With a new set of infrastructure proposals from the Biden administration on the table, the questions arise: how …
Update 498 – Amid Heated Debate on TrumpEconomy, Jobs, Wages Stuck in Deep Freeze After the fatal occupation of the Capitol last week, the nation’s attention is squarely focused on the state of our democracy and approaching transfer of power. For the first time in our history, the House is poised to impeach the President …
Update 460: 2Q20 GDP 9.5% Drop ShocksAs Congress Faces Macroeconomic Crisis Today, the statistics. Tomorrow, the screams. The day after learning of the worst quarterly GDP contraction on record, Congressional Republicans made no effort to restore the lifeline Corona unemployment benefits to over 30 million Americans, expiring today. Instead, the GOP proposed cutting them by …
Update 454 — What’s Up in the Markets?Less and Less, Pricing in Uncertainty, Fear The dissonance between the real economy’s performance, measured in GDP and unemployment, and that of the capital markets, reflected in prices, trading volume, and IPOs, was never starker than in the second quarter that ended last Tuesday. Stocks had their strongest …
Update 442 — A Tale of Two Economies:Market Correction v. Employment Collapse This week, we compare the impact of the Corona pandemic on the U.S. capital markets and on the real economy of wages and workers. The major indices — DJIA, S&P, NASDAQ — are down less than ten percent this year with gains over …
Update 417: Amid Market Viral and Spiral,A Survey of Business and Consumer Debt In the midst of the coronavirus panic, the Dow plummeted 1,191 points yesterday — the biggest single-day point drop in history. This past week, the S&P 500 dropped 12 percent, making this a full-blown market correction from nowhere in just six trading …
